Escaping Classification
by Belladonna-Veilsin
Summary: AU Merlin's new roommate, Arthur, is hard to label.He's built like someone who works out, has some rude tendencies, but is managing to escape both the categories of 'Jock' and 'Prat'. Add in his silence about his family, and he's a verifiable mystery.
1. Chapter 1

**Escaping Classification: Merthur AU. Merlin's new roommate, Arthur, is hard to label. He's built like someone who works out, has some rude tendencies, but is managing to escape both the categories of 'Jock' and 'Prat'. Add to that his mysterious family (he doesn't like to talk about it) and he's a verifiable mystery. **

**A/N: My grasp of British slang is slightly better than tenuous, at best.**

(-)

"Blimey, you're a skinny little git, aren't you?"

Merlin looked up from unpacking his clothes to see a blond (whose body had obviously been crafted by angels) standing in the doorway of Merlin's bedroom in the small apartment he had been assigned to at Camelot U, holding his own box. 'Well, this roommate is _entirely_ too pleasant for the eyes, and _entirely_ too unpleasant for my disposition.' Merlin thought.

"And you certainly have a singular way of introducing yourself, don't you?" Merlin replied casually. He went back to his clothes, ignoring the blond. He could tell this semester wouldn't be easy. Maybe he could find someone to trade rooms with.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the blond demanded, frowning.

"It means that saying your manners are lacking would qualify me for some understatement award."

The blond hummed thoughtfully. "I'm Arthur."

Merlin felt a chagrined smile cross his face before he got up and went to shake Arthur's hand. Arthur had to shift his box to one hand as Merlin said, "I'm Merlin."

Arthur's eyes lingered on Merlin's rubber bracelets, one rainbow, and the other a purple "It Gets Better" bracelet for gay suicide prevention. "Are you gay, Merlin?"

Merlin's eyes narrowed and he cautiously took his hand from Arthur's grip. "Yes. If _you_ have a problem with _that_, you'll want to get reassigned, pronto."

To Merlin's great surprise, Arthur smiled. "Nah. That's your business. Unless you try to make it mine, in which case _we_ will have a problem."

Merlin grinned. "Fair enough. You're not my type anyway."

"Ow. Man or not, that's insulting to my ego."

"Well you aren't." Merlin said with a shrug. He returned to his box of clothes, then considered that maybe Arthur wouldn't be a repellant prat after all. "Do you want any help getting your things up here?"

"Your twig body would probably snap under the strain." Arthur said with a grin. "Thanks, Merlin, I'll be fine."

As Arthur moved away to do his own unpacking, Merlin mentally chastised himself. It wasn't necessarily that Arthur wasn't his type. Arthur was the type that he lusted after but could never have. Scratch that, Arthur was _better_ than the blokes he had lusted after in the past. But it was a good way to reassure his straight roommate that his ass was safe. Merlin read somewhere that straight guys needed that security. 'Or at least the illusion of it.' Merlin thought.

(-)

Around lunchtime of that first day, Gwen came to see how Merlin was settling in. Gwen and Merlin had been friends since childhood, when Gwen would defend Merlin from bullies. When Arthur answered her knock on their apartment door, he took her in with pleased interest.

"Is Merlin here?" Gwen asked, smiling a little at his look.

Arthur blinked, then turned to call over his shoulder, "I thought you said you were gay!"

Merlin appeared from the door to his bedroom and rolled his eyes. When Arthur turned back to Gwen, she did not look amused. At her stony yet still hostile stare, Arthur held up a placating hand and said, "I was joking. I have no problems with Merlin."

"Then I shouldn't have too many problems with you." Gwen said, and she gently pushed past Arthur, dismissing him.

"Hey, Gwen. Are you all unpacked?" Merlin asked, stifling a smile at Arthur's petulant pout.

"Not entirely. But I wanted to make sure you were doing okay." Gwen said, raising her eyebrows and indicating Arthur with a flick of her eyes towards him.

Sighing, Merlin said, "I can stand up for myself, Gwen. I'm not 7 years old anymore."

"Still just as cute though." Gwen replied. "And predators go after cute, vulnerable men."

Merlin quirked an eyebrow. "Go after them in what way?"

"Rape, bullying, who cares?" Gwen shrugged in indifference. "If they hurt you, I'll have to get out my Castration Knife to defend you with _extreme_ prejudice."

Merlin grinned as Arthur's eyebrows raised. "You're scaring my roommate."

"Good. He should be scared, or at the very least, wary." Gwen said, looking over her shoulder at Arthur.

"We've settled it, Gwen. We're good." Merlin assured her.

"Merlin, you are hopeless." Gwen stated with a sigh.

Blinking, Merlin asked, "Yes, in many ways, but which one brought on this comment?"

"It's not settled." Gwen told him. "Call it Woman's Intuition."

And with that cryptic statement she waved and left. "That bird is crazy." Arthur said as he closed the door behind her. "I like her."

"You _like_ her? _After_ she indirectly threatens to castrate you?"

"Well, yeah." Arthur shrugged.

"And you say _she's_ crazy." Merlin mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Well, _yeah_." Arthur said, with more emphasis. "Is she the only person you know on campus?"

Merlin felt embarrassed for some reason. "Yeah. Gwen and I both did two years at a community college. So I'm technically a junior, but I'm new to campus."

"Want to come have lunch with some of my mates? Then you'll know some faces, at least."

Merlin felt nervous. "I get the feeling I wouldn't fit in with your friends."

"Well, no, obviously not. But that doesn't mean you can't hang out with us." Arthur said. He seemed perfectly at ease with the notion of bringing a skinny gawky gay guy to hang out with his friends, who were probably jock/fraternity types.

"I won't hide that I'm gay, but I try not to go into situations where I'll be targeted because of it." Merlin said.

"Naturally not." Arthur agreed, nodding. Merlin was feeling more and more at odds with Arthur's good-natured-ness about this.

"Arthur, you don't seem to understand that I'm not comfortable with this notion."

"I do." Arthur contradicted. "But I don't think it's called for. One of our friends admitted he was bi, a while back. Our group thinned then, losing anyone who wasn't okay with that."

Merlin blinked, surprise evident on his face. It made Arthur grin. "Ha! I could see you labeling me 'Barely Non-hostile Jock-Type' when I asked if you were gay. Fitting me into a category and filing me away. Well, _Mer_lin, I won't fit into your box so easily."

The accuracy of Arthur's assumptions and his gloating over disproving Merlin's assumptions was astonishing. Merlin wasn't certain what he should say. "Do you want to come to lunch?" Arthur asked with a chuckle, still grinning.

A small smile lit up Merlin's face before he said, "Sure, that sounds like fun."

(-)

As Arthur and Merlin approached the table at the diner where Arthur's friends were waiting, Merlin couldn't help but try to pick out the bi guy. It was pretty damn hard. They were all muscular, like Arthur, and they all dressed in the "normal" guys clothes. But Merlin was thinking it was the handsome latino whose hair was longer and cut in an almost girlish style.

"Sorry we're late, guys, but I had to disarm my roommate." Arthur said. Merlin felt himself flush. Was he going to tell them about that?

He could see them appraising him. Then, a dark haired man with a long oval-shaped face, asked, "Was it melee or ranged?"

"Did he ambush you when you brought in your stuff?" the square-jawed man sitting across from the latino asked.

"I'd recommend a spear for killing Arthur." the latino said, this comment directed at Merlin.

Merlin smiled despite himself and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Hey, I think I'd do fine against a spear." Arthur protested. After a moment's thought, he added, "Since I'm so skilled, I think you'd have to rig a trap."

His friends groaned and the blocky man said, "You're insufferably arrogant."

Arthur just rolled his eyes and took one of the two unoccupied chairs. This meant Merlin had to sit in between Arthur and the latino. "Merlin, that's Lancelot next to you. Percival is across from him, and then that's Gwaine next to him." Arthur said, pointing at each of his friends in turn.

"Why do you introduce me with my full first name?" Percival whined. "Percy isn't great, but it's better than that."

"It makes you sound terribly pretentious, that's why." Arthur said with a grin.

"It's better than when he wanted us to call him Perce, before we explained to him that's what women carry their things around in." Gwaine laughed.

"I hadn't thought about it like that!" Percival snapped defensively. "Anyway, shouldn't we be teasing the new guy? Why did you have to 'disarm' him, Arthur?"

Merlin felt the blush creeping back into his face. "Eh, he's shy." Arthur said.

That surprised Merlin. When Arthur had made the statement about disarming, he had assumed Arthur would share that Merlin liked to classify people (essentially making himself a judgmental prat) and alienate him from Arthur's friends. Instead, Arthur condensed their conversation to Merlin's motives for classification, and left it at that. Arthur was observant and insightful, and he was very considerate of Merlin to boot. Much as Merlin loathed to admit it, those were all very attractive qualities. But Arthur was straight.

"I can see." Lancelot said, giving Merlin a friendly smile.

The waitress came and took their orders. She brought Arthur and Merlin their drinks a moment later; the others had already received theirs. "So, who are you, Merlin?" Gwaine asked simply.

Merlin froze. The defining title he tended to be known by was not something he announced. "Who is anyone? Nobody is completely sure who they are. There is always another dark corner to prod, another weakness to assess. Self-awareness is a never-ending chore." Merlin said, feeling it was a sufficient dodge.

They just stared at him for a moment. Then Lancelot said, "I like this guy."

"Definitely." Percival agreed.

Gwaine nodded, but he wasn't going to be thrown off track so easily. "Okay, I'll be more specific, lest you wax philosophy again. What are you majoring in?"

"English. I'm minoring in business management." Merlin said. He tried not to think about why he _had_ to minor in business management.

"Is that why you're so well-spoken?" Lancelot asked.

"No doubt." Arthur said disparagingly.

"Hey, you could take a lesson from him." Percival teased. "A powerful man like yourself could use good verbal skills like his, down the line."

Arthur shot Percy a glare and Percy abruptly fell silent. Merlin had thought Percy had been teasing about Arthur being a powerful man, but Arthur's reaction made him reconsider. Arthur didn't want Merlin knowing something about him. Fair enough, there were things Merlin wanted to hide as well. And while he acknowledged to himself that mutual respect of privacy was best, he had a fierce curiosity as to what Arthur was hiding.

Lancelot cut through the growing awkward silence by asking, "Merlin, do you do any sports?"

Merlin barked out a laugh. "Do I look like I do any sports?"

"Running, maybe swimming." Lancelot said, his gaze assessing Merlin's frame.

Merlin tried to ignore the glorious chill that gaze gave him, and asked, "What sort of sports do you fellas play?"

"Swordplay and various other melee weapons, martial arts, a little archery..." Lancelot trailed off, trying to think of something he might have missed.

"Horseback riding." Percy threw in.

"That's not a sport." Gwaine corrected.

"So you're all fighters?" Merlin guessed.

"Knights." Percy said.

At a quirked eyebrow from Merlin, Arthur sighed and explained. "Because of our particular set of interests, our group has acquired the title of Knights. It stuck, and there are worse things to be dubbed."

That made Merlin smile. "Almost makes it sound as if you're superheros. Why not go out and defend justice, use your talents to fight crime?"

"I plan to." Lancelot said. "I'm going to be a police officer. Maybe I'll even make command, one day."

"Fight crime with swords and bows?" Merlin wondered.

Lancelot laughed. "If only! No, I'm also trained with guns. Unfortunately, I still have a lot to improve on in that area, whereas I'm quite skilled with swordplay."

"Lance has a lot to live up to." Percy explained.

Gwaine cuffed Percy on the back of his head. When Percy protested, Gwaine said, "If we _were_ superheros, you'd be the idiot who ripped off our masks on accident."

"What?" Percy whined. "Arthur brought Merlin, so what's the harm?"

His statement earned him another cuff. "Take off your own mask, and let everyone else wear them as they will." Gwaine said, his tone one of stern reprimand.

"Um..." Merlin didn't know if he should leave or just remain silent.

"I like Merlin, I'll trust him." Lancelot said. "My father's the Chief of Police of Camelot."

"Oh." Merlin said, careful to keep his face neutral and hope that no one noticed him breaking out into a nervous sweat.

"See? He's fine." Lancelot said, gesturing to Merlin. Percy nodded, but Gwaine and Arthur didn't look convinced.

"That must be rough then, trying to break into the same world as your father without being seen as riding his coattails." Merlin said, trying to regain his composure. He realized that Lancelot might be offended by the last bit, and added, "Sorry if that was rude. I just can't imagine the myriad of dilemmas that you have to deal with to distinguish yourself from your father."

Lancelot had been listening intently to Merlin, his face also a careful mask, but then he smiled warmly. "You sound like you know a lot about it."

'Calm, keep calm, this is a trap, and you need to stay calm.' Merlin told himself sternly.

"Not really, I'm just very good at viewing perspectives." Merlin shrugged.

"Our waitress is bringing the food out." Gwaine said. He looked at Merlin a little less critically, but Merlin could feel Arthur's intense interest focused on him. It was unnerving, given the clues that Arthur was someone in power, or going to be, and the fact that all the men seemed to be connected and not wanting to talk about family would indicate that it wasn't just Lancelot and Arthur who had powerful connections.

Merlin realized that he had just walked into the dragon's den.

(-)

**Well, I finished the first chapter. Not sure if I can promise the same for the second. Also, I forgot to mention, Merlin is a sorcerer in this. Hopefully I can elaborate better in the second chapter, if it ever exists in its entirety. XP  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Meh, chapter two. I'm glad I finished this, altho I'm still worried about keeping this stride/pace.**

(-)

"So, your friends are all quite nice." Merlin said as they entered their apartment.

"Told you so." Arthur said, his playful boast putting Merlin more at ease. It had been quiet on the drive home. Arthur had kept the radio on so it wasn't silent, but they hadn't talked.

"Am I to be a tag-along until I get my feet, or will they be my friends too?" Merlin asked. It came out a bit more blunt than he had intended.

Arthur raised his eyebrows at Merlin's passive-aggressive interrogation. "Isn't that up to you?" Arthur asked.

That made Merlin smile again. "Good point. Sorry, I'm just tired."

"It's 2:30." Arthur said.

"Eh, moving is tiring. As you put it, I'm a 'scrawny little git' and all the lifting and carrying has me quite fatigued."

"Long day." Arthur agreed with a yawn. "Maybe you should invite that bird...Gwen, was it? You should invite her over."

"For what purpose?" Merlin asked skeptically.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Before I can know if I really fancy her, I have to get to know her, don't I?"

"Ye-es." Merlin said, drawing the word out to emphasize the obviousness of that statement. "But what will we do?"

"Oh. I thought we might watch a movie or something."

"Okay. What movie?" Merlin asked.

"Uh, Sword in the Stone?" Arthur offered.

Merlin snorted. "How about something without singing fish?"

"Would she like Twilight?"

"That's too gay for _me_, Arthur. Besides, Gwen is very hostile towards dependent-woman stereotypes." Merlin informed him.

"Then you tell me what she would like." Arthur said with a frown.

"She loves V for Vendetta." Merlin said.

Arthur blinked. "I was expecting something a bit more of a chic flic."

Rolling his eyes, Merlin said, "If you haven't noticed, Gwen isn't a weak woman. And she doesn't like oppressive regimes. The movie is well-suited to her tastes."

Arthur tilted his head in curious inquiry. "Is Gwen very political?"

The question was asked as though he was asking her favorite color, but Merlin knew that both he and Gwen had to be careful about voicing opinions. Gwen had a tendency to be less cautious than he was about that, so he was almost glad Arthur had asked him rather than her.

"She's majoring in History. And she loves nothing better than learning about bloody revolution." Merlin said, smiling. If he made her interest seem academic, then whoever Arthur was or was related to would have to get more evidence before they could make bad things happen to her. And he didn't care who Arthur was; if he hurt Gwen, Merlin would use his magic to flay Arthur alive. Gwen wasn't the only protective one.

Of course, doing so would most certainly seal Merlin's fate, even if Arthur was the son of a baker. Magic wasn't allowed in Camelot, or anywhere in Albion. And while Merlin was good at hiding his magic after years of practice, he was more wary of befriending Arthur's friends because he might slip up and they would call the police to take him away for trial and death. Or in Lancelot's case, apparently, he could call his father. And one day he would be able to arrest Merlin himself. There was nothing but trouble with them. Almost.

Merlin's father was the leader of the resistance group of Druids, and he was supposed to take over if anything happened. And the part of him that his father had molded, the defiant, calculating part, thought that befriending them would be a great opportunity. He didn't like that part of himself.

"Cripes, I'm terrible with History. That eliminates any of that as a discussion topic. Although perhaps she could help me study sometime." Arthur said thoughtfully.

"Already plotting to rope her in?" Merlin teased, trying to shake off his dark thoughts. "I thought you weren't sure if you liked her."

"More like I need confirmation. From what I've seen and what you've said, she's exactly the kind of girl I go for." Arthur explained.

"Which of her traits line up with your preferences?" Merlin asked, honestly curious.

"Protective, loyal, headstrong, and a capability and maybe even a penchant for violence." Arthur listed, ticking them off on his fingers.

Merlin mentally slapped himself when he ticked them off in his head against his own personality. 'Arthur is straight. He wants to pursue Gwen. And given all signs and indications, Arthur would be nothing but trouble for you anyway.' he told himself sternly.

He smiled, feeling a little sad, and said, "I'll go call Gwen."

(-)

After Merlin got off the phone with Gwen, a fair bit longer conversation than an invite, given all the information Gwen wanted, he opened the door to his room. "She'll be here in an hour."

"From the length of your conversation, you had to do some serious convincing to get her to come, didn't you?" Arthur looked miserable.

"Not too much. She had to set the phone down for a bit, and I had to wait for her to come back." Merlin lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie. She _had_ pulled away from her phone to sneeze.

"Oh." Arthur said, visibly brightening. And seeing Arthur smile made Merlin smile a little too.

'Bad Boy' by Cascada started coming out of Arthur's pocket. He started and frowned, pulling the phone out and answering it. He headed to his own room, glaring at Merlin, who was laughing hysterically.

He was still laughing a minute later when Arthur came back out of his room, tucking his phone back into his jeans' pocket and sitting on the couch. "Shut up." Arthur scowled.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Arthur? Maybe something you've been denying?" Merlin asked, not completely managing to stifle his laughter.

"Look, I let my friends set their own ringtones." Arthur said.

"And she wants a purely physical non-platonic relationship with you?" Merlin chortled.

Arthur scowled and glared harder, but Merlin also saw the blush creep into his face. "He probably thought it would be funny. And apparently he was right."

Merlin started to calm as he heard the pronoun used. "That was a guy's ringtone? I'm guessing he's your bisexual friend."

"Yeah. Mind if he joins us tonight?" Arthur asked.

Merlin weighed that question. On one hand, it was likely someone from Arthur's circle, a dangerous person to drop his guard around. On the other hand, they were really nice guys and Merlin couldn't help but feel a little lonely. Maybe a blind date (because he was fairly certain that was what was going on) would help ease that. It couldn't hurt to get to know the guy.

"No, I don't mind." Merlin said.

Arthur smiled. "Great." He got his phone out again and texted his friend.

"Hey, which of them is it?" Merlin asked.

Arthur's smile became a sly grin. "He's coming over in an hour, you can wait to find out."

When Merlin pouted at that, Arthur laughed. And then Merlin grinned, a devious look on his face as he pulled out his own cell. "What are you doing?" Arthur asked, already wary.

"Texting Gwen." Merlin said, his voice innocent, though his face thoroughly belied that.

"About what?"

"I'm sharing an anecdote from my day." Merlin said.

Arthur looked at him for a second before his eyes widened and he got off the couch and dove at Merlin. "Don't tell her about that!" Arthur protested as he struggled for the phone. It should have been easy, but though Merlin wasn't nearly as strong, his limbs were long and he had better flexibility.

"Are you ashamed of him?" Merlin asked as they struggled.

"No, but Gwen doesn't need to know that my bisexual friend finds me attractive and likes to tease me." Arthur insisted. He had Merlin against the wall now and Merlin had his phone in his hand, stretching as high as it could go. Arthur almost had it.

"Parley!" Merlin blurted, thinking this situation was getting way too hot to handle. Arthur's muscled frame felt fantastic against his and he loved how the solid weight of it pushed him into the wall. This was going to get awkward, fast.

Arthur paused and took a step back. "What do you want?"

"Tell me who your friend is, the one you're trying to set me up with." Merlin said.

Eyes narrowing, Arthur said, "You want me to betray my friend's confidence."

"No," Merlin said, "I want you to betray his identity, which he's going to do anyway when he shows up. I only want to know who I'm dealing with."

Arthur considered that. "Lancelot." he said.

Merlin had a small pleased grin as he said, "Knew it!"

"You promise not to tell Gwen?"

"She wouldn't think less of you, but yes, I promise."

"Thank you. Bloody embarrassing, remind me to clout Lance when he gets here."

"I'll see how the night goes first." Merlin said.

An hour later, Arthur remembered on his own anyway. Lancelot arrived before Gwen did, and Arthur gave him a firm slug in the shoulder. "Ow!" Lancelot protested, "What was that for?"

"The bloody ringtone on my phone." Arthur said.

It took Lancelot a moment to recall. "Oh, that? Well, you _can_ be my weekend lover." Lancelot said, a teasing grin on his face.

"I'll pass." Arthur said firmly, but without malice. "Come in, we're waiting for Merlin's girlfriend to show up."

Confusion clouded Lancelot's face as he stepped inside and Arthur closed the door behind him. "Girlfriend? But with the bracelets and everything, I thought..."

"My mistake. His female close acquaintance." Arthur corrected.

"Ah." Lancelot said, immediate cheer and a hint of embarrassment showing on his face.

"Everything?" Merlin asked. "What else told you I was gay?" He kept the inquiry light, and kept his face neutral. He wanted to know what Lancelot would say. He probably wouldn't be offended, but Lancelot didn't need to know that yet.

"Um, well, you're very slender and the way you move..." Lancelot started, but trailed off. "Call it gaydar." he said at last.

"Fair enough." Merlin said, giving him a smile. "Just curious. I don't suppose Arthur was one of the things that told you I was gay, was he?"

Stifling his own grin, Lancelot feigned thought. "It might have come up at some point, I can't remember." Then he considered something for real. "Did Arthur tell you about me?"

"Non-specifically. I knew it was one of the three of you at lunch. I had to use some friendly blackmail to get your name, and he relinquished it only after I pointed out that you were coming here, so I'd find out anyway." Merlin shrugged. "He's loyal."

"And while _he's_ tried to be polite, _he_ feels the need to remind you that _he_ is standing right here!" Arthur growled.

There was something more than annoyance in Arthur right then. Merlin saw anger, real anger, embarrassment, and fear. Something about their conversation had really upset him. Lancelot apparently had a better grasp of what it was. "Arthur, can I talk to you for a minute? In private?" he asked carefully, also acknowledging that something was wrong.

Arthur nodded and turned towards his room. Lancelot gave Merlin a "one minute" finger, and followed Arthur, closing the door behind them. Merlin, burning with curiosity, sprawled backwards over arm of the couch and Listened. He used his magic to extend his hearing over to Arthur's room. His control wasn't precise, but he could still hear a great deal more than he could without.

"Arthur, you know you can trust me. I would never betray you, especially not about that."

"You're making me regret trying to set you two up. If you're going to be discussing me and exchanging information now, how much worse will it be if you two get involved?" Arthur asked, his voice distant.

"You know me better than that. And if Merlin started trying to _use__me_ for information, you know I'd completely forget him, never speak to him again. And we don't even know if he is interested in me. You need to calm down, Arthur. I won't betray your trust." Lancelot said, and the last statement was quiet and sincere.

There was a long pause then, "Okay."

A couple of steps later, Arthur was opening his door, and Merlin quickly let go of his power. "Are we making popcorn?" Merlin asked, not caring that it was obvious he wanted to cover the awkwardness.

Lancelot gave him a grateful grin and said, "I think I'm hungrier than popcorn. I vote pizza."

"But then we have to wage war about toppings." Merlin complained, rolling his eyes.

"Ha, I'd overpower you both easily." Arthur scoffed, starting to sound more like himself.

"That sounds like a challenge." Lancelot said, quirking an eyebrow at Merlin.

"Hey, don't look at me, I'm sure he could take me." Merlin said, shrugging. "I vote pepperoni-mushroom."

"Supreme is the only way to go." Arthur argued.

Lancelot was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. Arthur went to open the door, and moved aside to let Gwen in. "What are we fighting about?" Gwen asked, taking in the subtly-veiled tense atmosphere.

"Pizza toppings." Merlin promptly informed her. He was grinning at her, and he pulled himself off of his back and hugged his knees, legs still dangling off the arm of the couch. "Hi, Gwen."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Pepperoni-mushroom, of course."

"Hey!" Arthur protested, "Why are you taking his side?"

Giving Arthur a look that plainly stated that she thought he was an idiot, Gwen said, "I've known him for years. That's the only kind of pizza Merlin eats."

"Really?" Arthur asked, glancing over at Merlin. From hugging his knees, Merlin had retreated to hiding behind them, only his eyes showing.

Gwen sighed. "Don't be silly, Merlin, lots of people are picky eaters."

Merlin reluctantly pulled his face up, a light blush on his cheeks. "Yeah, that's the kind of pizza I eat."

"I've heard of this crazy thing pizza places do now where they don't limit your order to one pizza." Lancelot put in, seeing Merlin's discomfort. "Believe it or not, they'll let you order all kinds of pizzas, _at__ the__ same __time._"

Gwen grinned and nodded, "True, there are four of us. Three of which are men."

Arthur looked between himself, Lancelot, and Merlin, his face feigning very casual surprise. "Really? I hadn't noticed."

"I find it hard not to." Gwen replied, and she was eying Lancelot as she spoke.

Seeing Arthur's tension rising again, Merlin said, "So, a pepperoni-mushroom, a supreme, and at least one more, right?"

"Meat lovers?" Lancelot suggested.

"That sounds good." Arthur nodded. He pulled his cell phone out and walked away from them to order the pizzas.

"So, Merlin mentioned that you and Arthur are in a...Fight Club, or something?" Gwen said to Lancelot almost as soon as Arthur's back was turned.

Lancelot laughed. "No, more like a few of our friends and us share similar disciplines. I'm Lancelot, by the way."

"Gwen. But disciplines? Like...?" Gwen promted.

"Swordplay, other melee weapons, martial arts, archery, and horseback riding." Lancelot listed. "Our hobbies gained us the nickname 'Knights'. Sounds silly, but it's rather apt."

"Horses?" Gwen said, and the spark in her eyes was the one that drew any men in the vicinity in. Even Merlin, and he wasn't attracted to women. "How can you go horseback riding when we're in Camelot?"

"Oh, we leave the city, of course." Lancelot replied. Merlin suspected that his family had a house and property in the country for such purposes. He had told Gwen who Lancelot's father was, so she would be careful, but mindful of Lancelot saying he trusted Merlin, Merlin had told her that it was strictly for her to know to protect herself, and to not let anyone, including Lancelot, know that she was aware of his identity.

"Horses." Gwen said again, a small wistful smile growing on her lips.

"Gwen watched a lot of 'My Little Pony' when we were little." Merlin said casually.

"Merlin!" Gwen scowled at him and quickly searched for something non-lethal to throw at him. There was a box of tissues on an end table. She took them and tossed them at him, trying to hide her blush and embarrassment.

Merlin shielded his face and the box bounced off his arms. "You did!" he protested.

"What did I miss?" Arthur asked, looking between Merlin and Gwen.

"Merlin trying to provoke me." Gwen said shortly. "Although I thought he had learned by now that that isn't wise."

"I thought you had learned that I'm often unwise." Merlin retorted. "Shall I tell them about your 'My Little Pony' collection?"

"Should I mention the security blanket you slept with until you were twelve?" Gwen shot back, eyes narrowed.

"Touche'." Merlin said. "Truce?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Fine. When it comes to who has more dirt on who, I come out on top, and an easy victory like that is boring."

Now that they had settled matters, they could hear the ill-stifled laughter coming from Arthur and Lancelot. "Can I ask what kind of blanket?" Arthur wondered, trying to hold back the full force of his amusement.

"We called truce, ask him." Gwen said, washing her hands of the matter.

Both Lancelot and Arthur looked at Merlin expectantly. He sighed. "It was a large print of Snow White and her Prince Charming."

"A pale short-black-haired girl dancing with a handsome guy. That's telling." Arthur said. He looked thoughtful now, with only faint traces of amusement remaining on his face.

Merlin blushed. Arthur seemed to be extraordinarily good at seeing through Merlin, and apparently making insights that Merlin himself had missed. He'd never considered his blankie that way before. But it _did_ make sense. And his mother had known before he had that he preferred men.

When he was young he had seen a man executed by a firing squad on the news. The announcer detailed that the man had been caught using magic. Merlin couldn't sleep after that. He was afraid they would know he could use magic, and they would come and take him in his sleep. When he told his mother why he was afraid, she had bought him the blanket.

"See?" she'd asked, pointing at Prince Charming. "That's Prince Charming. He's a great protector, and he's honor-bound to protect the innocent. He'll keep you safe while you sleep. He won't let anyone harm you for being blessed with magic." He slept soundly only with his blanket after that.

"I think it's kinda cute." Lancelot said, a small smile on his face, not entirely of amusement.

"It's adorable. Merlin is looking for his prince." Arthur teased.

Merlin blushed and scowled furiously at Arthur. He was sorely tempted to curse Arthur, just a small curse. But it wasn't worth it. He knew it wasn't worth it because the sensible, non-suicidal part of him sternly told him so. Gwen must have seen where his thoughts were, because she said, "Shame that Camelot is out of princes, then." She poked Arthur's chest. "All they have left, apparently, is prats."

"I don't know, Lancelot is fairly princely, and he's here in Camelot." Arthur said, pretending to study his friend. "Yes, actually, he's very noble, isn't he? Quite chivalrous, too."

"That's why I obviously wasn't referring to Lancelot." Gwen said lightly.

Arthur's mouth twisted in a frown. Merlin could see quite clearly that Arthur wasn't happy with the way the evening was going so far. If Gwen saw, she didn't mind because she started talking to Lancelot, pointedly ignoring Arthur.

And Arthur was still quite puzzling to Merlin, who couldn't place him in a solid category. He clearly had some issues with his family (from the way he hid them) and maybe a few between him and Lancelot, still had prattish tendencies, and thinking of how they had wrestled when he'd tried to text Gwen about Arthur's ringtone, he probably had a deep need to prove himself and maintain an image.

What was the saying? "An enigma bound in a riddle shrouded by mystery contained in a schizophrenic"? Probably not. Merlin had never been able to get that quote right.

(-)

**Well, that's done. And yes, all the pop-culture references did come flying out of nowhere.**** (And Sword in the Stone was probably a misplaced one, since they would probably take note of the same names but *shrug* it's fanfiction.) ****Also, Listening is from Harry Dresden, but anyone who noticed that and has seen my profile would know I'm not really hiding that piece of creative theft. XP**

**Also, to answer you, superbored85, I agree that Gwen is plenty OOC. But given that Morgana is Arthur's sister and I thought Merlin would probably have drawn a protective female friend to him by this point in his life, Gwen kinda took up that role.**

**I was actually more worried about Arthur being OOC in the first chapter. He was so insightful and understanding and considerate I was thinking, "No way will they buy this as Arthur!" So I threw a bit more prat in this chapter.**

**Also, should the next chapter get into them watching V for Vendetta with some commentary as well as possible other bits, or just skip most of it and continue? If you have an idea and/or want to review, please feel free to review. But mostly, thanks for reading! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! I've planned to put something a little more action-y in the end of this chapter. Hope it pans out.**

(-)

"Well this is rather disappointing." Arthur muttered to Merlin. He was on one end of the couch as they sat in the dark watching V for Vendetta. Merlin was on his left, Lancelot was next to Merlin, and on the opposite end Gwen sat. She and Lancelot were seated very close together as they talked to each other about the movie.

"I guess this doesn't happen to you much?" Merlin asked casually. They spoke in lower voices towards each other, so Gwen and Lancelot wouldn't overhear. Of course, in order to overhear anything, they'd have to be paying some kind of attention to Merlin or Arthur, so they were fairly safe in any case.

"No, of course not." Arthur pouted.

"Happens to me all the time." Merlin said evenly. "The guy I think I want to date chases after a girl instead. Story of my life."

"Oh, yeah." Arthur said, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, didn't mean to discount that."

"It's okay. I'm desensitized, at least a bit, by now." Merlin shrugged.

"I wouldn't think you'd have trouble finding a guy in a big city like Camelot." Arthur noted.

Merlin raised one eyebrow in question. "Why do you think it would be easy?"

Arthur was fairly red now, Merlin could tell, even in the dim light coming from the TV screen. "Well, you are fairly cute, as Gwen pointed out. And there have to be a fairly large number of gay men..."

"The problem there is that I'm stupid." Merlin cut in, seeing Arthur getting more uncomfortable. "I don't go out looking through people who actually _will_ date me. It just kinda happens sometimes with people I know."

Merlin said "people", even though they both knew he meant "men" because he wanted to downplay the fact that Arthur definitely fell under the category of "guys Merlin knows that he could randomly start wanting". Arthur looked uncomfortable enough.

He must have looked pretty down, because Arthur nudged him. "Cheer up. I'm sure one day your prince will come." Arthur winked at him, a sign of subtle teasing.

Merlin blinked at him. "You've seen Snow White enough to remember that?"

"Remember what?" Arthur asked, looking puzzled.

Merlin sighed loudly. "Nevermind."

"Did you say something, Merlin?" Gwen asked, apparently noticing his sudden appearance on the couch.

"I'm _trying_ to storm the Bastille over here, do you mind?" Merlin asked her in a playfully annoyed manner.

"Okay, Merlin." Gwen said, turning back to the movie. "Vive la revolucion."

"What was that about?" Arthur asked. He looked thoroughly perplexed.

"She wasn't really paying attention." Merlin said, rolling his eyes. "I could have told her I was bombing Pearl Harbor and she would have made some history-related reply on reflex."

It was true. But he and Gwen had been using historical references and situations to speak in code for years. What he had just said equated to "I'm talking to a straight guy about sensitive issues, do you mind?" because Merlin had told Gwen that straight guys were like fortresses when a gay guy was around; always on their guard.

Her reply had said, "Continue, I support you in your efforts."

"You two are very attuned to each other." Arthur noted. "The rest of us think you're both crazy, but that apparently doesn't bother you."

"And no one calls you crazy for practicing swordplay in an age where guns and explosives are the weapons of choice?" Merlin asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"Touche'." Arthur nodded. "But you and she still stick out more than either I or Lancelot do. Is it hard to stick out like that?"

"Well, I got teased and picked on a lot when I was younger. Now people mostly stare. And compared to some of the more extreme bullying you run into for being a gay teen in highschool, stares are almost fun." Merlin shrugged.

He usually wore skinny jeans and t-shirts long enough to cover his torso properly. But with the bracelets and the kind of graphics that were usually on his t-shirts, his look said "gay and proud". Gwen sewed a lot of her own clothing, so much of her wardrobe was composed of medieval and Renaissance styles, since she could make as many garments as she wanted.

"I'm sure you get stared at a lot too." Merlin shrugged. "Your stares are just subtitled 'Yum' while mine are subtitled 'Fag'."

"'Yum'? How am I 'Yum', Merlin?" Arthur asked with a chuckle.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You know you're a gorgeous guy. And I never should have said it because now you're grinning, you cocky bastard."

Arthur laughed, "'Not your type'? I knew you were lying!" He stuck his tongue out at Merlin. "I am equally attractive to all orientations." he boasted.

"Um, not to lesbians." Merlin pointed out. "And you just got _way_ too excited about that."

Arthur paused, his mouth still smiling, then it faded. "I kinda did, didn't I?" He shrugged then, surprising Merlin. "I suppose my ego is not to be denied, ever."

"Arthur?" Merlin said, giving him a frank look. When Arthur hummed to acknowledge that he was listening, Merlin told him, "You're really bloody strange."

"Am not!" Arthur denied.

"You make no goddamn sense." Merlin insisted.

"Do so!" Arthur protested.

"Shall I get a second and third opinion?" Merlin asked, turning to Lancelot and Gwen.

"_No!_" Arthur hissed, and he put a hand over Merlin's mouth and pulled him away from the pair. Of course, that pulled Merlin very much into Arthur. In fact, as they stilled in their awkward moment, Merlin could feel Arthur's rapid heartbeat against his back. They both glanced over at Lancelot and Gwen to make sure they weren't looking, and they weren't. They were kissing. Arthur's arms tightened around Merlin for a moment, and Merlin assumed he was jealous and angry. Then he let Merlin go.

"Um..." Merlin said quietly. "That was weird. You okay, Arthur?"

"Yeah." Arthur replied just as quietly, with no inflection. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Call the acting awards committee and tell them to cancel, because I'm not buying it." Merlin said. "Something is bothering you. Maybe something more than your supposed date making out with mine."

He could see Arthur struggling with something, something he obviously was having a hard time saying. "I just-"

"You guys okay over there?" Lancelot asked.

"We're fine." Merlin replied, but he held Arthur's gaze and raised his eyebrows in inquiry. "We're headed to the 1860 elections for president of the United States, but other than that..."

"Oh." Gwen said, subtly nudging Lancelot further away from her. "Well, we've got about five years before we're headed to the theater."

"And what happens in the meantime?" Merlin asked her dryly.

"Too serious, Merlin." Gwen shook her head. "Anyway, I should probably get back to my dorm. Busy day tomorrow."

"Indeed," Lancelot agreed, sensing the rising tension, "I'll walk you and see that you get there safely."

"Night, Lancelot, Gwen." Merlin said as they both gathered themselves to leave. "Gwen, you might want to start drafting your Gettysburg Address."

"Don't make me kick your ass, Merlin." Gwen said over her shoulder as they headed towards the door.

When the door closed behind them, Arthur asked, "It's a code?"

"Code?" Merlin asked, carefully stifling the nervous reaction he felt to Arthur's question.

"The nonsense you're spouting. It isn't nonsense."

"Of course it is. We just enjoy testing each other's grasp of history by making reference to something and seeing if the other can match it." Merlin said with a shrug. "I won that round. She should have told me to shove a bayonet up my ass."

"So it's a game?" Arthur asked, plainly still skeptical.

"A game for history nerds."

"And you call _me_ strange." Arthur sighed.

"I do. And speaking of-" Merlin began.

"We are _not_ speaking of." Arthur said, an immovable authority in his tone. He stood up and moved towards his room. "I guess bed is a good idea. When's your first class tomorrow?"

"Nine." Merlin said, frowning at Arthur's evasiveness.

"Too bloody early, mate. Night." Arthur said before he closed his bedroom door.

"Well..." Merlin said, looking around the empty room. Those had all been rather hasty exits. "Maybe I smell bad?"

(-)

Merlin walked out of his European Literature class feeling a little less intimidated than he had been before. There was a lot of work ahead, sure, and the professor talked fast, but he was equal to it. He was about to head across campus and he had just turned the corner into the stairwell when someone stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Yes?" Merlin asked, turning to look.

The boy was built upon the model of blocks of stone and maybe some very roughly-crafted golems. His huge blocky frame seemed to loom over Merlin. "Nice bracelets." he said shortly.

Really? Merlin was going to get the super-muscle bully on his first day of classes? That figured. "Yes, very decorative and colorful. Do you have a point?"

"You're gay." the boy said, and he seemed to expect Merlin to verify, although the statement wasn't a question.

"Indeed I am. Anything else? Perhaps a meaningful discussion of what brand of jeans I'm wearing?" Merlin asked, patience wearing thin.

The golem-boy smirked. "Smart-mouthed little fag. Maybe I should take you somewhere quiet and find better uses for that mouth."

Merlin's impatience evaporated to be replaced by a sharp stab of alarm. He had expected posturing and maybe physical violence. He had not expected the prospect of sexual molestation and perhaps rape. "Maybe not." he said in as firm a voice as he could now manage. He didn't want to show the golem that he was frightened. He tried to walk past the boy and get down the stairs.

When the hand closed around his arm and gripped it tightly enough to hurt, Merlin had to fight down his urge to panic and struggle. He instead tried to project strength and certainty. "You had better let go of me."

"Or what?"

"Or you'll regret it, _obviously_." Merlin said, keeping a scornful tone of derision in his voice.

The boy's grip tightened and Merlin yelped against his will. "And how will-"

"Hello, Ronald." came a voice. Merlin looked down the stairs and Lancelot was standing on the landing below, looking at the bully with determined eyes.

Merlin looked back, and the golem-boy had narrowed his eyes but did not reply. "I wasn't aware you knew Merlin." Lancelot continued. "No doubt you are calling him a 'disgusting fag' and condemning his existence."

Merlin's eyebrows shot up. "Actually, he seemed to be intent upon dragging me away for sexual molestation and possible rape."

That made Lancelot raise his eyebrows, and a slow grin spread across his face. He started climbing up the stairs and when he reached the top and met the bully's eyes, he said, "Well, that _is_ surprising, coming from a former friend who shunned me for being a 'disgusting fag'. Although we all know what homophobia really says about you."

The bully still didn't speak, he just kept glaring at Lancelot. Lancelot took Merlin's arm and, after an initial resistant squeeze, the bully let him go. "Come on, Merlin." Lancelot said pointedly. "I'll walk you home."

"Sounds good to me." Merlin murmured.

As they walked down the stairs, neither looked back. Merlin, still feeling very anxious, was tempted to, but when he was about to Lancelot said, "Don't. He'll think you're an easy target."

He held Merlin's hand and gently squeezed it. When they were outside, Merlin sighed with relief. "Thank you."

"Are you alright?"

"Severely shaken, but not stirred." Merlin said.

"You must be well enough if you can say odd, cheesy things like that." Lancelot grinned.

"My cheesy oddity never fails." Merlin replied, though he was shaking slightly.

"Do you always get such...forceful advances? You _are_ quite adorable, but it was a rather public place to abduct someone."

"That's never happened to me before." Merlin said, sounding a bit puzzled himself. "Wait, I'm adorable?"

"Quite." Lancelot said with a slightly embarrassed grin. "Most people would think you're too tall to be adorable, but you pull it off quite well."

That made Merlin blush a bit. "Still, I must agree that his plan was quite risky. I don't know what got into him. I'm not worth that much jail time."

Lancelot surveyed him. "Perhaps in the right situation...of course, I would be _protecting_ you and getting charged with assault or manslaughter. And then, since it was in defense of you, I could possibly not do time at all."

Now Merlin felt very embarrassed. "That's an odd thing to hear from someone aspiring to be a police officer."

"I want be a police officer to protect the innocent, the defenseless." Lancelot shrugged, as though the logic was self-evident.

"That isn't all police officers do." Merlin said, before he could stop himself.

"Well, though everyone loathes a speeding ticket, those speed limits are there for a reason." Lancelot said. After he examined Merlin's nervous expression, he noted, "But that isn't what you're referring to."

"Maybe not." Merlin said quietly.

Lancelot watched him as they walked across campus, until he said, "Well, I must admit the law isn't perfect, but _most_ of it has very sensible reasoning behind it that is designed to make Albion a safe place to live."

"Most of it?" Merlin asked. He slapped himself mentally, because it would have been easy to let the conversation end there and instead he furthered the dangerous discussion.

"Well, yeah. Nothing is perfect, and the law is no exception. There are parts which should be changed. But it's hard to do that from the outside. If I can become a policeman, and maybe someday a chief, I could build a good argument for having the laws changed. Bring evidence and cases to light that have been hidden." Lancelot said. He glanced at Merlin, who looked stunned. "I'm trusting you not to tell anyone what I've just told you. I must appear to be a good son." He gave Merlin a grim smile. "But I think you know something about that."

Merlin's eyes went wide. "What do you mean?"

"After what you said when we met, I got a feeling. So I did some quiet digging. You're Balinor's son and heir." Lancelot said.

Merlin pulled his hand from Lancelot's and took a careful step back. He looked very afraid. "Then why did you save me?"

Lancelot raised his eyebrows and gave Merlin a disbelieving look. "Merlin, you were in trouble. He was going to _rape_ you. I could never live with myself if I had walked away when I could have stopped it. And besides, your father doesn't define who you are. I know that all too well."

"You won't tell?" Merlin asked cautiously.

Lancelot sighed. "Merlin, I knew who you were and just told you that I don't agree with the system as it is. You could get me into a fair amount of trouble if you told anyone."

"You could get me into more." Merlin countered.

Seeming to deflate, Lancelot said, his tone insistent, "I am trying to tell you that I trust you. And you can trust me."

He held his hand out to Merlin. "Let me walk you home. I don't want anything else to happen to you between here and there."

Merlin was taking his hand before he thought about it. Was this the day his prince had come?

(-)

**BUM BUM BUUUUUM! XD (Yes, I am aware of the gay joke in that.) And don't worry your pretty little heads about things, it will all turn out as it is supposed to. (And as advertised in the pairing filter.) One last thing, I would like to sincerely apologize for the horribly cliché/stereotypical "homophobic-bully-intends-rape-scene". It had me stalled for quite a while while I tried to make it less cliché/stereotypical, but after so long, I decided I'd rather get it over with and move on, since the bully isn't a major character. Let me know what you think, and what your ideas are, if you get the time. Hope to keep the updates coming.**

**(A/N: While I hope the in-story explanation of "storming the Bastille" is sufficient, I feel I should clarify the other reference, in case you aren't familiar with American history and/or don't feel like googling it. XP Lincoln was elected president in 1860, and about five years later was shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth while watching _Our American Cousin_. Of course, in-between that was the Civil War. And now you know because _KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!_)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, I yet live. I got busy with work and our production of Macbeth, so while I was busy sewing costumes, skittering around stage in a skin-tight morphsuit, and checking people out as a cashier, I was letting most other things slide, including this.**

**It occurs to me that I never thanked everyone who reviewed. I really do appreciate it. Feedback always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and makes me squee like a fangirl. No idea what's going to happen in this chapter. Let's see where it goes, shall we?**

(-)

Arthur was eating a bowl of cereal on the couch when Lancelot opened the door for Merlin and they both came in. Merlin stiffened as he remembered that he had forgotten to ask whether Lancelot had told Arthur. "Trix, Arthur? It's 10:30. Did you just wake up?" Lancelot asked scoldingly.

Arthur took another bite and stubbornly didn't answer. "You're mad about the thing last night with Gwen." Lancelot sighed.

"Just a little." Merlin said, rolling his eyes. "Are you two alpha-males going to thump your chests and screech, or can I sit down and read my homework?"

"Do what you like." Lancelot replied. "I guess I should leave."

As soon as his back was turned, Arthur said, "I suppose I should be impressed that you've managed to snag Merlin as well as Gwen."

Merlin settled himself on a chair at the wooden table with a sigh and Lancelot gave Arthur an impatient look. "I didn't snag him, I saved him. From Ronald, who was apparently set on abducting and raping Merlin."

At that, Arthur sat up and set his bowl down on the coffee table. "Are you joking?"

"No. I found them at the top of the stairs, although I initially thought Ronald was just going to beat him up."

"That arsehole! He was one of the worst of them when you came out. Little twit turns out to be more aggressively into men than you." Arthur fumed.

Merlin was quite pleased to note that Arthur's pouting and irritation at Lancelot had swiftly turned to siding with him and defending him when the golem was brought up. "I walked Merlin home to make sure Ronald or any other creeps didn't try to get him before he got here. Maybe we should get him a mace...or some Mace. He is apparently too attractive for his own good." Lancelot said, grinning at Merlin, who blushed.

"Yeesh, Merlin, will you need armed escorts to your classes now?" Arthur teased.

"This is an isolated incident," Merlin insisted, "and I highly doubt it will ever happen again."

"Your chastity is nothing to bet with, Merlin. We should teach you to fight." Arthur said decisively.

Merlin felt his ears burning. "Why do you assume I'm so chaste?" Merlin asked angrily, not caring that this was probably not a discussion he should get into with his heterosexual roommate.

Arthur's head rocked back as though Merlin had dealt him a blow. "Mainly because you're so shy. Are you contradicting me?"

Merlin drew his knees up to his chest and he pouted and looked away from Arthur as he said, "No. Not entirely."

Arthur blushed a bit and raised his eyebrows, speculation clear on his face. "We should get back to Arthur's point." Lancelot said. "You should know how to defend yourself."

"I'm not totally defenseless!" Merlin protested. Of course, his defenses would get him killed if he used them.

"Physically defend yourself." Lancelot clarified. Merlin's eyes widened a bit and Lancelot glanced at Arthur and hastened to add, "Although you can verbally spar with any competent foe, it does little to deter less intelligent assailants."

"I'm not strong enough to fight anybody off." Merlin said.

"Not all fights are won on strength. Having a knowledge of fighting techniques, weak points in human anatomy, and some practice would go a long way towards keeping you safe." Arthur told him seriously.

"And you aren't supposed to fight them, not in length at least, you're supposed to disable them and escape." Lancelot clarified.

"To get one of you big-strong-men-types to protect me?" Merlin said, unable to keep the scorn from his voice.

"Well...yeah." Arthur said with a shrug.

Merlin considered. "Who's going to teach me anyway? You both have better things to do, I'm sure."

Lancelot was about to say something but Arthur cut him off. "Lancelot will probably have his schedule overflowing with dates with Gwen, so I'll do it."

Giving Arthur a hard look, Lancelot said, "Arthur, I think we should talk about this."

"There isn't much to talk about. Gwen's signals have been pretty clear." Arthur said, his voice neutral and matter-of-fact.

"But nothing's settled!" Lancelot protested. "For heaven's sake, it was just last night. We haven't talked since then."

"Do you like her that much to get this upset, Arthur?" Merlin asked quietly from the table. "Or is it only so upsetting because Lancelot is involved?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur demanded, eyes narrowing even as his face reddened.

"Lancelot seems to be able to upset you to an unreasonable degree. You both just met Gwen yesterday. But since she kissed Lancelot last night, you're far more hot and bothered over the matter than you should be." Merlin said.

"'Hot and bothered'...Merlin, shut up." Arthur said firmly.

"Just saying." Merlin said, holding his hands up in placation.

"No, you're just talking about things you don't have the first bloody clue about!" Arthur snarled.

"Merlin, please. I need to talk with Arthur alone." Lancelot said. He steered the seething Arthur into Arthur's room again and closed the door. Merlin debated whether he should risk Listening since at least one of them might suspect he could do it. He decided he wanted to know.

"Merlin's not wrong." Lancelot said. "Please calm down, Arthur."

"Easy for you to say." Arthur muttered resentfully.

"Look, I don't know if Gwen and I will be together. Nothings settled, we haven't even discussed the matter. And Merlin..." Lancelot trailed off uneasily.

"Oh, so you want to suck his dick too?" Arthur asked.

"Gwen is a woman, Arthur." Lancelot said patiently. "No dick to suck there."

"You know what I mean." Arthur said firmly.

There was a long pause. "I suppose I do." Lancelot sighed.

"So are you going to date Gwen and bang Merlin on the side?" Arthur asked.

Merlin heard a frustrated sigh as Lancelot said, "You know, Arthur, I put with a lot from you because I'm your best friend. I'd rather not put up with such crude, baseless accusations. You _know_ that isn't something I could do."

"I _suppose_ I do." Arthur said grudgingly.

"Arthur, you pursue Gwen all you want. I'm going to do as I will, and if that involves me also pursuing Gwen, then it's really up to her who she wants. I don't see much point in us getting upset over it." Lancelot said. Without warning he opened the door and walked up to Merlin. He handed him a torn scrap of paper. "My cell number. Call me if you get into a bad situation, or if you want to hang out, or even if you just want to talk. I should go, I'll see you later."

Merlin blushed and nodded and Lancelot made a hasty exit. Pocketing the number, Merlin stood to go lean on the door frame of Arthur's room. "I'm not sorry about what I said. But I _am_ sorry that it hurt you." Merlin said quietly.

"It just cuts close." Arthur replied just as softly.

"Why?"

Arthur shook his head. "It's not something I talk about. Ever."

"Fair enough." Merlin said. "Still, plenty of fish in the sea, get back on the horse, all that tripe."

Snorting softly, Arthur gave Merlin a small smile. "You're quite the motivational speaker."

"I'm thinking of going on tour." Merlin agreed.

"Hey, Merlin?" Arthur asked after a few moments of silence.

"What?"

"Why is it you're the only one who would point out how Lance gets to me? Gwaine and Percy must have noticed, but they never said a word."

"They're your close friends. We aren't that close yet. And there's also the fact that they may be cowed by your enormous ego. Your ego, however, just makes me want to show you when you're being a prat. You'll never learn otherwise." Merlin said with a teasing smile.

"Gee, I'm so glad you're around to knock me down a peg." Arthur said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I can return the favor by teaching you how to avoid molestation."

"So we're back to self-defense?" Merlin asked with a sigh.

"What do you have against not getting raped?"

"It's not that." Merlin said.

"Then what is it?"

"I guess...I know I'm not strong or fast, or coordinated...and I don't fancy making a fool out of myself."

"You don't mind what people think. You wear your bracelets and shirts and form-fitting jeans and to hell with what people think!"

"That's because I'm proud of being gay. I won't be ashamed of that. It's an entirely different matter when it comes to me being clumsy and awkward. There's nothing to be proud of there." Merlin said dully.

"Why not?"

Merlin gave him a disbelieving look. "You can't be serious. When people applaud me getting beaned in the head with the ball I was trying to catch, it's not really my brightest moment."

Arthur smiled at him. "When people applaud, Merlin, you bow. Challenge them to be half as clumsy and inept as you and keep their head held high. They probably couldn't."

"Apparently neither can I."

"I think you can."

Rolling his eyes, Merlin said, "I'm not sure where this boundless faith has sprung from, but I'm pretty damn sure it's misplaced."

"I don't know; there's something about you, Merlin." Arthur said, a puzzled look on his face. He shook his head as if to clear it. "So, will you let me teach you how to defend yourself?"

Merlin sighed. "I suppose I should. When would we find time?"

"We're roommates, Merlin. When we're both here and have free time, we can hit a gym." Arthur said. When Merlin balked, he added, "I'll keep the teasing friendly, if that makes you feel better."

Mock-glaring, Merlin replied, "I'll try not to gush in my outpouring of gratitude."

"Thanks, I appreciate it, pal." Arthur said, getting up and clapping him on the back in a manly fashion.

As Arthur passed him to get something from the fridge, Merlin's eyes narrowed in irritation, and Arthur started. "Hey, if you're going to pinch, there are other places to do it!" Arthur complained.

Merlin's eyes went wide. Then he blushed. Not only had he lost control of his magic (which hadn't happened since he was a sophomore in highschool) but apparently his magic decided to pinch Arthur somewhere inappropriate. Merlin was guessing his ass.

Trying to draw attention away from that, Merlin huffed. "I haven't said I want to learn from you."

"Merlin, you do." Arthur said assuredly.

"Why hasn't anyone told you that arrogance is unattractive?"

"Because it isn't arrogance if it's true."

"That makes me feel like disproving you."

"You're free to try." Arthur said with a permissive wave of his hand.

"How would you suggest I go about that?"

"I guess you would have to prove that I'm not as amazing as I say I am. Good luck with that." Arthur said, with the air of someone wishing a kamakazi a good flight.

"You are unbelievable." Merlin fumed.

"Like a dream come true." Athur agreed amiably. He grabbed an apple out of the fridge, and said, "Well, I need to shower and get ready for class."

"What class?" Merlin asked.

"Shakespearean Literature." Arthur said as he headed into the bathroom.

"Why are you taking that?" Merlin asked, just managing to suppress a bark of laughter.

"I don't know." Arthur shrugged. "I needed an English class. And girls like poetry, right?"

"I guess. I'm not really 'up' on wooing women." Merlin said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but you're gay. Aren't they supposed to be easier for you to understand?"

"Arthur. They're women. The eternal enigma. They don't understand themselves!"

"Hmmmm...true." Arthur said, looking thoughtful. "Well, at least I have a subject that my roommate can help with, right?"

"Sure, Arthur." Merlin said with a smile.

(-)

"Who knew an old dead poet's plays could be fun?" Arthur said when he came back from his class.

Merlin looked up from the gay romance novel he had been reading. He bookmarked his page and discretely set the book aside. "Myself, and many other literature and theatre enthusiasts."

"Well I'm glad Mr. Clark showed me. The language is a challenge, but once he explained some of the dialogue, it's actually quite good." Arthur said.

"It's quite good to see you fired up about a class. I imagine it doesn't happen all too often." Merlin said offhandedly.

Arthur frowned at him. "There you go again, trying to box me in, Merlin. I'll have you know that I got great grades in Biology and Algebra in highschool. English and History were never spectacular, but I still passed."

"Good grades does not equal passion. Passion drives you harder than the mere seeking of rewards. It makes the work itself a reward." Merlin clarified. "I don't know if they had fencing at your highschool, but that would be a class I could see you getting passionate about. Not so much Algebra."

The frown became thoughtful as Arthur reflected, "I suppose that's true enough, then."

"But this 'Mr. Clark' managed to give you passion for Shakespeare. He must be an excellent teacher." Merlin noted.

"I've only been to the first day of class, but I'd definitely agree with that already."

There was something in how Arthur spoke, how he stood, how he smiled, that twigged at Merlin's instincts. Nothing specific, but Merlin felt like there was more to all this enthusiasm. He filed it away for later consideration. "What play are you doing first?" Merlin asked, picking up his book again, trying to seem only casually interested.

"Romeo and Juliet. He said that since just about everyone had to read it in high school, it will be easier to re-read and get more in-depth." Arthur said.

"Makes sense." Merlin agreed. There was a long pause, which made Merlin look up to see why Arthur was so quiet. Arthur was looking at his book biting his lip. "Arthur?"

Arthur glanced at him. "Mind if I read next to you? I might have a question about the language. I'll try not to bother you too much."

As butterflies erupted in his chest cavity, Merlin tried not to grin like a fool. He toned it down to a smile and said, "Sure, sit down. Don't worry about bothering me. I finished my reading assignment for European Literature already. And Shakespeare is the kind of stuff I enjoy reading and working with."

Arthur's smile was laced with relief and he replied, "Thanks. Some of this stuff is beyond me."

"That, as I understand it, is one of the main points of learning; bringing faraway concepts within your grasp." Merlin said.

"You know, I probably could use a smart guy like you down the line." Arthur said abruptly, giving Merlin an intensely-assessing gaze.

Merlin blinked. "Um...okay. Gonna get ambitious and tackle Hamlet in the future?"

Rolling his eyes, Arthur said, "Not just that. You really are very clever."

Willing himself not to blush, Merlin responded, "There's a lot of smart guys out there."

"But not all of them are clever. Or well-spoken." Arthur pointed out.

Merlin didn't know what to say to that. He knew he was blushing now, and a shy pleased smile was creeping into his expression. Arthur seemed satisfied with that reaction, and sat on the couch next to Merlin and opened his book.

(-)

**Well, I've been sitting on the majority of that chapter for a while now, I just needed to finish it. Let me know what you think about it. (Including theories on what will happen, if you want. My reviewers often think of things that I never would.) Thanks for reading! ^_^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Onto round 5! I was gonna wait for more reviews and opinions, but I decided I should just post this.**

(-)

"I don't understand this bird." Arthur said suddenly.

Merlin looked over at him. "Why not?"

"She's asking where Romeo is and then she starts talking to him and telling him to do stuff." Arthur said, frowning at the book.

Sighing, Merlin scooted closer, though he felt certain he knew what passage Arthur was reading. He was pressing on Arthur a bit as he leaned to read. "Arthur, did you fall asleep when you read this in highschool?"

Arthur scowled at him. "No! I just...well I think we read this and discussed it while I was trying to get the attention of a certain girl. So we were passing notes through most of the class."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Well, if you _had_ been paying attention, your teacher probably explained that 'wherefore' does not mean 'where'. 'Wherefore' actually means 'why'. She's asking _why_ is he Romeo. If he were anyone that wasn't a Montague, she could be with him without a huge fuss. And she isn't talking _to_ him; she doesn't know he's there, yet. She's musing aloud. And what she's saying later is mostly along the same lines; it's his name that's the problem, and nothing else."

Arthur looked at him, then at the book, then back to him. "Did you read all of that that quickly?"

Merlin chuckled. "No, I've studied Shakespeare before. And that's a common misunderstanding."

"Oh." Arthur said shortly. He quickly returned to his book, looking a bit sheepish. Merlin found it adorable.

Merlin's cell phone started playing "Our Solemn Hour" by Within Temptation and he dipped a hand into his pocket to wrestle it out. Downside of skinny jeans. "Hello?" He made it sound like he wasn't sure who was calling, though he knew damn well it was Gwen.

"Merlin, do you know what's up with Lancelot?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, trying to give away as little as possible to Arthur.

"Well, he gave me his number, but he isn't answering my calls." Gwen told him, and he could hear the sliver of insecurity she had let slip into her voice.

"I can find out for you." Merlin said. He had Lancelot's number as well.

"That would be nice. Thanks, Merlin. I'll talk to you later, maybe we can have dinner together tonight or something."

"I'd like that. Bye." Merlin hung up his phone and met Arthur's inquisitive stare. "What?"

"Who called you that has a ringtone like _that_?" Arthur wondered.

"A friend." Merlin said. He was trying to think of a good excuse to get out of Arthur's earshot. He came up short and decided to just excuse himself truthfully. "I need to make a call. I'll be back in a minute."

Merlin went into his room and closed the door behind him, pulling out Lancelot's number and making him a contact before calling him. Lancelot answered his call after the first ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lance." Merlin said, sitting down on his bed.

"Oh, Merlin. Good. I was wondering when you'd call." Lancelot said, and Merlin could indeed hear that he was pleased.

"So you haven't lost your phone, then?" Merlin asked pointedly.

After a moment, Lancelot sighed. "No. Gwen wants to know why I've been ignoring her calls." It was a statement.

Merlin still verified, "Yeah, she was wondering. And now I'm wondering what's going on with you."

Another sigh. "I guess I feel a bit conflicted."

"That was my first guess." Merlin said. "Because of Arthur?"

"Kinda. There's a lot of conflict between the four of us as a whole."

"Is there?" Merlin asked. "I'm fine."

"Are you?" Lancelot asked, making it sound like a challenge.

"Yeah, mostly. I don't have anyone trying to date me, and I can't date any of you, so I'm trying to imitate Switzerland and stay out of it." Merlin said. He lay back onto his bed, feet still on the floor.

Lancelot let out a rueful-sounding chuckle. "You have that wrong on at least one account."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, and though Lancelot couldn't see it, he could hear the skeptical disbelief when Merlin asked, "_At least _one?"

"I do like you, Merlin. Once you called me and I had your number, I was going to ask you out. I didn't know what to say to Gwen about that, because I like her too, so I've been stalling." Lancelot admitted.

Merlin was surprised. "I thought once you got interested in Gwen..."

"That's I'd lose interest in you? It sounds like that's how things have gone for you in the past. Well, that's not what happened here. The fact that I like you still makes things more complicated, but here we are." Lancelot said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So what do we do?"

"I'm not sure. There's still the lingering issues with Arthur..." Lancelot noted uneasily.

"If Gwen isn't interested in him, would it be a critical blow to his ego or something?" Merlin wondered.

"Not critical, but it would be maiming at least. And if it's me she likes, it'll be even worse."

"Why is he so touchy when it comes to you?"

"I've given my word of honor never to speak of it." Lancelot said gravely.

"Fair enough." Merlin said. "But is there anything I could do to make it better if that happens? I don't have to know the issue, but if I know something that might help solve it or mitigate the fallout, that would be great."

Lancelot hummed thoughtfully. "Arthur is a romantic at heart. He hides it well, most of the time, but I've seen how he thinks and feels. Maybe you could use that somehow."

"Worth a try. So are you going to return Gwen's calls?" Merlin asked, his tone a stern reprimand.

"I will. I'll have to see what she thinks of all this." Lancelot sighed.

"I'll talk to Arthur a bit, if I can." Merlin promised.

"Alright. Text me later, or call if you feel like talking."

"Will do. Later." Merlin said, and hung up. He slid his phone back into his pocket and went back into the living room. Arthur wasn't there. The room to his door was closed. Merlin walked over and knocked lightly. "How are you doing with the play?"

"I'm looking forward to the ending where both Romeo and Juliet are dead." Arthur replied, his voice bitter.

"That's silly." Merlin told him. "Can I come in?"

There was a long pause before Arthur sighed and said, "Fine."

Merlin opened the door and saw Arthur sprawled on his unmade bed. "So, eavesdropping?"

"You weren't terribly good at being covert. I couldn't help myself." Arthur grumbled.

"And what's the matter then?" Merlin wondered, moving to sit beside Arthur on the bed.

Arthur squinted at him in irritation. "Are you stupid? You and Lance are talking about me because you know Gwen doesn't like me."

Merlin frowned. "Well, yeah. I won't lie. But it's not the end of the world."

"I don't know. She's a very desirable woman, and I had thought that she..." Arthur trailed off with a frown, unwilling to finish his thought.

"There's your problem." Merlin said simply. "Gwen is your Rosaline."

Arthur raised an eyebrow in question. "What?"

"Well, Romeo is chasing after Rosaline at the beginning of the play. She doesn't return his affections, and he's torn up about it."

Arthur shrugged. "So what?"

"So you still haven't met Juliet!" Merlin asserted. "Rosaline wasn't right for Romeo. And meeting Juliet changed his whole life. Juliet will make you feel things that Rosaline never could. And if you learn from Romeo and Juliet's mistakes, hopefully you won't share their ending."

Arthur sat up on his elbows and looked at Merlin, his blue eyes intent and searching. "Are all English majors nutters, or is it just you?"

Merlin grinned at him. "I get the feeling it's not just me, but it could be. But I hope you got my point, however dramatically stated."

Arthur sighed. "I think so." He fell back to being flat on his back and muttered, "Thanks, Merlin."

As a warm feeling rose in him, Merlin's grin grew wider. "No problem."

Merlin turned to go, but Arthur sat bolt upright on his bed and he turned back to look at him. The blond boy looked bewildered, and at Merlin's questioning look, he said, "I felt a kiss on my forehead."

Merlin's eyes went wide, but he disguised it by raising an eyebrow and asking, "And I'm nutters?"

"I'm serious!" Arthur insisted.

"Well, even if that happened, what can we do about it?" Merlin asked. "I have no clue how to handle that. We might as well forget it."

Letting a frustrated growl slip from him, Arthur fell heavily onto his back again. Merlin exited the room a bit more swiftly, closing the door behind him. Why couldn't he keep control of his magic? He went back to his room and called Gwen, but her number was busy.

There was nothing for it then. He'd have to go see Gaius.

(-)

The Majestic Physician was Gaius's pharmacy, and since Merlin had helped out part time every now and then, it wouldn't be odd for him to show up there. The bell rang and a white-maned head popped up from behind the counter. "Merlin! I wasn't expecting to see you so soon."

"Doing inventory?" Merlin asked. He walked to the counter and leaned on it. There were no other customers that he could see, so he said in a low voice, "I'm losing control."

Gaius immediately stood, looking about nervously. There wasn't anyone in the shop. But he still looked. "Come into my office."

Merlin went to the door beside the pharmacy counter, which led to a small hallway, and he opened the door at the end and went in. Gaius came in shortly after, presumably after locking the door and putting up a "Be Right Back" sign.

"Is this a major loss of control?" Gaius asked, his expression grave.

"No. Not yet. It's just two little things, so far." Merlin said, feeling uneasy.

"What things?"

Merlin blushed. "Well, my roommate thought I had pinched him...but I hadn't. And just fifteen minutes ago, he felt someone kiss him on the forehead."

Gaius raised an eyebrow, seating himself in the chair behind his desk and looking thoughtful. "I see. And are there any powerful feelings inside you when these incidents occur?"

"Well, the first time I was irritated with him, and just now...we kind of had a 'touching' moment and I felt really...good...inside." Merlin did not dare meet Gaius's eyes. He knew he was blushing. He knew Gaius accepted that he was gay, but if they got into _who_ he was having feelings for and who Merlin thought he might be, Gaius would call Merlin a fool for staying in such a dangerous situation.

"Merlin, you know that your feelings and magic are strongly connected. When you get powerful emotions, you need to take care to keep the power in check that comes with them. But it doesn't sound like it will be a major issue." Gaius said. "I think you can handle yourself."

Well that was worse than telling Merlin that he was a fool. The fact that Gaius trusted Merlin to control himself was upsetting, given the evidence that he couldn't. "Well, I guess I should get back. I need to eat lunch and then head to class." Merlin said with a sigh, heading for the door.

"Oh, Merlin? Your father wants to see you soon." Gaius said.

Merlin froze. "Why?"

"He didn't say. He sounded quite serious about it, though."

"Okay, thanks, Gaius." Merlin said, smiling at the old man before leaving.

(-)

As Merlin was headed back to their room after his class, he ran into Arthur. He was sitting on a bench talking to a ginger-haired girl who, Merlin noticed when got closer, had eyes that were slightly off. It wasn't a full-blown lazy eye, but one of them just wasn't quite on track with the other. She was still pretty, though, and gave Merlin a friendly smile as Arthur waved.

"Hey, Merlin. This is my friend Merlin," he explained to the girl, "and, Merlin, this is my new acquaintance Juliet."

Merlin fought back the eye-roll that he felt nearly forced to do. "Nice to meet you, Juliet."

"And you, Merlin." she responded politely, still smiling.

"So, how did you and Juliet meet?" Merlin asked, trying to sound as casually interested and not exasperated as possible.

"She sat down at my table outside the cafeteria at lunch. She just needed to tie her shoe, but we started talking and couldn't stop." Arthur explained, grinning.

"What a crazy, random happenstance." Merlin said, trying to smile back. "Well, I told Gwen we might have dinner together tonight, so I'd better find out what she's doing."

He nodded at the pair and pulled out his cell as he walked away. When he went to his contact list, however, he called Lancelot. "Hey, Lance. Yeah, it's Merlin. I talked to Arthur, but I might have made a mistake."

(-)

**So that's a fairly nasty cliff-hanger, I'm aware. Hopefully it will motivate me to get the next chapter going. I know this chapter was short, but people wanted more and the idea of a teaser chapter appealed to me. Also, it's hard _not_ to spot the Dr. Horrible line there at the end.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ding ding! Round 6!**

(-)

"You sounded really worried on the phone, Merlin," Gwen said as she sat down at the table in the pizzaria where Merlin had waited for her.

"I _am_ really worried. I'm having 'control issues', Arthur's gone mad, and my father wants to see me," Merlin said, hugging himself slightly.

Gwen's eyes widened. "Your father?"

"Apparently." Merlin nodded.

"Well that can't be good. It has to be 'business talk', am I right?"

"Unfortunately, I think you are." There was a silence that lingered after that, unspoken anxious thoughts permeating the air instead.

Gwen broke it. "So, is Arthur running around campus, brandishing a sword and challenging passers-by to duels?"

Merlin blinked. "What?"

"You said Arthur had gone mad," Gwen clarified. "How has he gone mad?"

"Oh. Well, I was trying to help him get over your rejection by using Romeo and Juliet as a metaphor. I said you were Rosaline, and he just hadn't met Juliet yet," Merlin explained. "But then I run into him on the way to our room and he's sitting with a red-head named Juliet, grinning like a fool. I don't think he understood."

"I doubt Arthur is complex enough to mind the difference. Another girl is fine, so what if her name is or isn't Juliet?" Gwen scoffed.

Merlin frowned. "You don't give him enough credit. I mean, he's complex enough to be athletic and still scholarly, to be 'Mr. Man' yet co-habitate with a gay roommate and have a bi-sexual best friend."

Gwen sighed and rolled her eyes. "And I believe I warned you about this."

"About what?"

"_You_ said things were settled between you and Arthur. _I_ told you they weren't."

"Wait, why aren't things settled?" Merlin wondered.

Gwen looked frustrated to the point of insanity as her hands clenched and unclenched. "Merlin, _listen_ to how you talk about him. You _can't_ tell me that you aren't starting to like him."

Merlin frowned. "Well, he's attractive, but...that doesn't mean..."

"Doesn't it?" Gwen demanded.

"No!" Merlin insisted, although he was no longer altogether sure. "It doesn't!"

"I'm just warning you, Merlin. You know that you always do this."

Merlin folded his arms and slouched in his chair, pouting. "Yeah, yeah. Straight men may be lovely, but they're unattainable."

"I just don't want you to get torn up over this. Especially not over a prat," Gwen said firmly.

"He's not a prat," Merlin grumbled half-heartedly.

"Who's not a prat?" came Lancelot's voice from behind Gwen. She jumped like a spooked cat and looked behind and up at him.

"Lance?" she asked, looking surprised.

"I invited him to lunch," Merlin explained. "I thought he might be helpful in sorting out the Arthur situation."

"Why not just let him date the girl?" Gwen wondered. "It's his life."

Merlin blushed, thinking that maybe he _was_ too interested in Arthur's love life. "When it comes to his love life, Arthur can be very foolish. I don't like this coincidental meeting," Lancelot said as he sat down.

"Meaning what?" Gwen asked, frowning.

"Meaning I don't think it is coincidence."

That got Merlin's attention. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Perhaps the Juliet thing was, but some girl just happens to sit at Arthur's table to tie her shoe and they talk and hit it off?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "The prat is very attractive, although when he opens his mouth he becomes less so."

Lancelot shook his head in frustration. "I just don't like it. I get a bad feeling."

"What, do you have the power of foresight or something?" Gwen teased.

"No. Does Merlin?" Lancelot asked casually.

Gwen's eyes narrowed. "No. Why would you ask such a thing?"

"He knows," Merlin told her.

Eyes wide now, she asked, "You told him? Why?"

"I didn't tell him. He found out who my father was and confronted me."

Gwen now gave Lancelot a shrewd assessing look. "He didn't turn you in to _his_ father?"

Lancelot glanced at Merlin with an expression that was inquiring and insistent. "Before you confronted me about my dad, I felt I needed to warn Gwen to be careful around you, just in case. Sorry. I know you were trusting me not to tell anyone, but...Gwen isn't always as discrete as she should be."

There was a moment where Lancelot just looked into Merlin's eyes, then he gave Merlin a small forgiving smile. "You wanted to protect her."

"Yes. I wouldn't have broken your trust otherwise."

"I can respect that," Lancelot said with a nod.

Merlin smiled at him. The waitress came to take their order since Lancelot had arrived, and once they were done ordering, Merlin said, "So back to Arthur, what should we do? If we think this girl has ulterior motives, how do we prove it?"

Gwen made a disgusted scoffing noise. "We're worried about this girl having ulterior motives? For that to be plausible there would have to be more to Arthur than what there appears to be."

Lancelot and Merlin exchanged a glance. Maybe Gwen wouldn't be helpful in this discussion. She disliked Arthur to an unreasonable degree. "Let's forget that for now," Merlin said hurriedly. "What do we do about us?"

His tone made it clear that all three were included in "us". Lancelot cleared his throat. "I already told Merlin, Gwen, but I do like both of you. I think you and he should be the main ones deciding what's fair and what's not."

Frowning, Gwen thought for a moment before responding. "We could just go on dates with you separately until things are more clear. Nothing serious has to go on right away."

"I agree," Merlin said with a nod.

Lancelot grinned; he looked very pleased. "Good. That will give us all time to figure things out."

"But are there limits before serious?" Merlin asked. When they both turned to look at him in speculation, he flushed. "I mean, I assume kissing is okay?"

The grin on Lancelot's face became more sly. "I have no objections."

"Nor I," Gwen agreed. "Do we need to lay ground rules on groping?"

Lancelot looked quite surprised by that question, and looked at Merlin for a response. Merlin thought for a bit. "I think that depends on who's comfortable with what. If both parties are fine, I think it's okay."

Gwen shrugged and nodded. Lancelot looked between them and remarked, "You both are much more easy-going about this than I had expected."

"If it was anyone other than Merlin, I probably wouldn't be," Gwen admitted. "But I know he's honorable and trustworthy. And I love him. So I can't very well try to deny him the opportunity to win your affection, now can I?"

"Food!" Merlin said excitedly, seeing the waitress returning.

"I can see winning my affection is the only thing on his mind," Lancelot noted with a grin.

The waitress brought Gwen's fettuccine alfredo and the pepperoni-mushroom pizza that Lancelot and Merlin were splitting. When Lancelot had immediately ordered it and then asked with a roguish grin if Merlin was okay splitting it, Merlin had felt a warmth in his chest that Lancelot had remembered. Maybe he had finally found a guy who was worth any dangers that might come with him.

(-)

"I understand," Balinor paused to take a breath, presumably for dramatic effect, "that you were threatened by a young man named Ronald and rescued from him by the son of the Chief of Police. I am also told that Ronald was being controlled by Mordred."

Merlin frowned. Mordred had been his best male friend growing up. Until Merlin's father had taken up the Druids' leadership; then there was contention between their families, and they weren't allowed to see each other anymore. It was around the time that Merlin realized he was gay, due to him kissing Mordred when they snuck out to see each other for one last time. His father didn't know about that part.

What he said, however was, "Good to know that you have people spying on me."

"He was going to rescue you before the Chief's son stepped in. After you were safe, he just watched."

"Wait, so he's a bodyguard too? Do I know him?"

"Obviously not, or you would have spotted him by now," Balinor said, his voice full of condescending amusement.

"That's a great way to encourage paranoia in your offspring. Good parenting, Dad."

"Merlin." The name was said with a stern disapproval.

"Just saying," Merlin lightly protested. He feared his father quite a bit, and there was some respect present as well, but Balinor himself had taught Merlin that you don't show fear or weakness to anyone in power. Unless it's a calculated risk to lure them off their guard.

Merlin had a tendency to become a smart-ass when he employed this rule. He reasoned that even a lack of respect might make a potential enemy think that he had enough power to say such things without fearing the repercussions. That, or it might aggravate them into killing him. One or the other.

"I put a guard on you after I heard that you were rooming with the governor's son. I think you'll understand that with him and Mordred, I-"

"What?" Merlin asked. "Arthur is the governor's son?"

"He's in the school's records as Arthur Pen to grant him some anonymity, but his name is Arthur Pendragon. And yes, his father is Uther Pendragon, the man who has persecuted, jailed, and murdered our kind for decades."

Merlin was stunned. Even when he thought that Arthur was highly connected, he had never thought _that_ high. "Arthur isn't like that."

Balinor raised an eyebrow. "You told him about your magic and he accepted you with open arms?"

Merlin blushed and scowled. "No, but-"

"He's voiced a favorable opinion of magic-users?"

"No, he-"

"Then surely he expressed distaste at the vile treatment of mages over the years?"

Merlin didn't speak. He just kept a still face, and if it wasn't neutral, at least it was closer to neutral than a scowl. His father was watching him. "Are you certain Arthur doesn't know who you are?"

"Yes. He'd be more guarded around me if he did." Merlin muttered sullenly, then his eyes widened as he realized his mistake. Balinor was grinning now, and Merlin didn't like it, not even a little. In fact, he felt a little sick. "I won't do anything to Arthur," Merlin stated firmly.

"Oh? He's more important to you than your people, the ones his father has been _murdering_?"

"My principals are more important than any vengeance or base manipulation tactics. If I see Arthur kill a magic-user, I'll probably change my mind. But he has done _nothing_ to me or that I know of to warrant meddling in his life," Merlin stated, and he stood from his chair in front of his father's desk.

Balinor considered his son shrewdly now. "Fine, I won't ask you to act against Arthur."

Merlin blinked. "You won't?"

"My word upon it," Balinor replied. And that was that. When a mage gives you their word, it is binding. If they go against their own word, it can weaken their magical power. Too many broken promises could turn a mage into an ordinary human.

Now Merlin was suspicious. "Then what _do_ you have planned?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Balinor assured him with a small, sly smile.

"That makes me think I have great cause to worry."

Balinor ignored that comment and asked, "So, you like Arthur, do you?"

Merlin fought his urge to blush. He tried to seem dispassionate as he said, "He's nice enough."

"But you _like_ him," Balinor challenged.

"He's far too arrogant for me to ever seriously consider him," Merlin shrugged.

"But you have at least a casual interest in him."

"Since when do you care what boys I'm interested in?" Merlin muttered, only a little sullen.

His father hadn't really cared one way or another about his son's preferences. When Merlin came out, Balinor just shrugged and nodded. Then he went about his business. It kind of summed up Merlin's personal relationship with his father.

"Since I suspect you have interest in the governor's son."

"I love you too, Dad," Merlin said with a scowl. Definitely summed up their relationship.

"I'm glad. But you didn't answer my question."

"No, I don't like him, okay?" Merlin huffed.

Balinor looked at his son for a moment and said, "You shouldn't dodge the question that much before you lie. And your lie should be delivered differently if you want it to be convincing."

Merlin rocked back like his father had slapped him. "What do _you_ know? I _don't __like_ **him**. I just get irritated that everyone keeps saying I _do_!"

"You need to learn to lie better, Merlin. I can read you like a book," his father said, as if he hadn't spoken. "And if others can tell that you like him, your openness is becoming a vulnerability. You can't afford that."

Balinor made a shooing gesture with his hand that meant Merlin was dismissed. Merlin was furious and...embarrassed? His father had shocked him with his roommate's identity, interrogated him, and then accused him of liking said roommate. And after all that, he gets dismissed with the criticism of being too honest. Sometimes Merlin wished he could just be disowned or something and not have to worry about any of this.

(-)

When Merlin got back from his meeting with his father, Arthur wasn't in their apartment. That was good because Merlin was still adjusting to the idea that he was rooming with the governor's son. Dragon's den indeed.

Merlin was sprawled out on the couch when there was a knock at the door. He got up and opened it, and a beautiful woman was on the other side. She had dark hair that fell in curls down past her shoulders, a lovely, elegant pale face, and a smirk was shaping her supple lips. Merlin remained unaffected.

The smirk didn't change when she saw Merlin, it just gained a measure of interest that made it look sharper. "Are you Arthur's roommate?"

"Um, yes. He's not here right now," Merlin said, feeling uneasy as he sensed that this woman was a predator.

"That's okay, it's better to ambush him from inside so he's trapped," the woman said, gently brushing past Merlin into their living area.

Merlin wasn't certain what to say. The woman had walked in with authority, as if she had every right to be there, and sat down on the couch. She gave Merlin an inviting smile and an indication to sit down beside her like it was her house and she was trying to be a good hostess.

Closing the door, Merlin hesitantly joined her on the couch. "Are you Arthur's girlfriend...or ex-girlfriend?"

The woman laughed, and it was warm and full of haughty mirth. "Heavens no, I would never date Arthur, even if I wasn't related to him."

"Oh, you're his family?"

"Most of it. And since I'm most of his family, I knew that calling Arthur wouldn't do me any good, so I came to visit because he can't hang up on me in person," she said with a shrug, as if the logic was self-evident.

"So that's what you meant by 'ambush' and 'trap'? Keeping him in one place so he'll talk with you?"

"What else would I mean?"

"I've met his friends. They seem very enthused with combat."

"You've met the Knights already? Interesting. Arthur wouldn't take just anyone to meet them," the woman said, a thoughtful frown sitting well on her lovely features.

"No?" Merlin asked, suddenly quite curious. "Why not?"

Now the woman had a secretive smile. "They're a very upper-class group, and they all go way back with him. Arthur keeps most of his secrets to himself."

"I've gathered that much on my own. Might I ask for an introduction? I'm Merlin." Merlin offered her his hand, which she took and shook with a firm grip that bordered on aggressive.

"Morgana. I'm Arthur's sister. He hasn't called or contacted me at all since he got here, so I wanted to come see him. Maybe he's afraid if I heard he has such a cute roommate, I'd come to visit you rather than him." There was a teasing tone in Morgana's voice, but she also had a sly smile.

"He can't use that excuse. I'm gay." Merlin said with an affectedly casual shrug.

Morgana's eyes glinted. "Gay? Such a shame. Still, it's nice to meet you, Merlin."

Something in her relaxed then, and something of the predation went out of her mannerisms. Her smile became warmer and her posture less tense. It seemed "Predatory Temptress" was just a persona she wore. Now Merlin was curious on how to classify her in her current state.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Morgana. Do you want something to eat or drink?"

"If you have something sweet, that would be lovely."

Merlin got up and retrieved two glasses of lemonade for them, and set them on the coffee table before sitting beside Morgana on the couch again. "So," Morgana asked, "what has my little brother been up to?"

"Besides working with me on his Shakespeare, he's been pursuing girls. Other than that, I don't really know." Merlin shrugged. He wasn't certain how much Arthur would want him to tell Morgana, so he kept it brief and simple.

Morgana sighed. "When will he get over chasing girls? His relationships never last long."

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Sometimes it's his self-involvement that drives them away, sometimes their vapid, shallow ignorance that makes him leave them. And of course, any of them who know who he is are always after his money," Morgana said thoughtfully.

Merlin tried not to twitch or blink when she said, "who he is", because now Merlin did indeed know "who he is". But he frowned and said, "That pretty rotten for him. I guess I can't blame him for not letting me know 'who he is'."

Morgana smiled at him, the expression warm and genuine, shocking Merlin by contrast to her earlier smiles. "Don't take it personally. Arthur doesn't like to be known for his family, and he doesn't like the people who pursue him once it is known."

Then she leaned forward the slightest bit and asked, "What do you think of my little brother?"

The question surprised Merlin so he just said, "I think he's too complex for me to properly categorize. Which wasn't what I expected when I met him."

"I imagine not. He can be a prat, but he's really a good guy."

"Agreed. It has been pleasantly surprising to get to know him better."

Morgana looked sly now, but not in an aggressive way as she said, "He's also quite handsome, don't you agree?"

Merlin felt his face heat up. He saw where Morgana was going with this, and there was little point in denying it, so he agreed, "He's quite good-looking, but I think he's a little too arrogant for me to consider. Not to mention he's straight"

She grinned at him. "A shame, really."

Merlin probably looked pretty confused as the door opened and Arthur came back into their apartment. Arthur's eyes widened as he met saw Morgana and Merlin sitting together. "Morgana. What are you doing here?" Arthur sounded more than a little irked.

"Talking to your charming roommate, of course. I know how you are about calls from family, Arthur, so I didn't give you any warning and just came directly here," Morgana told him with a smug smirk, a bit of the predator slipping back into her.

"Talking about what?" Arthur asked, shrewd calculation in his tone.

"You," Morgana said.

Arthur looked at Merlin and a bit of anxiety crossed his face. "What did she tell you?"

Merlin stared at Arthur for a moment, taking in this anxious, secretive young man who was the son of the governor, and likely to get into politics himself and all Merlin could think was of how lonely Arthur must be, how paranoid. No wonder he got twitchy when being talked about.

"Not much I didn't already know. You're a handsome prat, you're secretive, and you don't like people knowing who you are."

Arthur gave Merlin a small grin, but stifled it as he addressed his sister. "Why did you come here?"

Morgana smiled at him. "I was wondering how you were, little brother. Father has been a bit concerned."

Arthur glanced at Merlin but snorted. "Yeah, I've always been his biggest priority."

"You and your complexes, Arthur, I swear. Shouldn't you be happy to see me?" Morgana said with a pout that only seemed somewhat affected.

Rolling his eyes, Arthur walked closer to the pair on the couch, firmly situating himself in the personal space that Merlin and Morgana had been leaving each other. He was more solidly in Merlin's space than Morgana's, but Merlin got the sense that this was a protective thing. Then he had the thought that the governor's son was protecting him and his brain fizzled a little.

Morgana took no offense at Arthur's abrupt insertion of himself between them, she just smiled playfully and said, "So, you _do_ seem to like your roommate. And here you were all worried about living with someone."

Arthur blushed, and Merlin grew warmer as well, and it didn't help that Arthur's side was pressed into his. "Yeah, he's very cool. And he can help we with my Shakespeare. Is there anything else you wanted before you left?" Arthur's words were short and clipped, indicating impatience.

"I suppose there is one more thing. I wanted to let you know that if you ignore a phone call or text from me for more than a day without reply, I'll come down here in person again to talk to you." Morgana gave her brother a sweet smile.

Arthur looked horrified at this announcement. "Why?"

"Because while Father may not know how to curb your stubbornness, I do. I want to see that you're doing well."

Morgana got up and pulled Arthur standing to give him a firm hug and kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye, Arthur." She grinned and added, "It's _very_ nice to meet you, Merlin."

And then she was striding out of the apartment as confidently as she had barged her way in. The two stared at the door for a moment or two longer before they looked at each other. The room suddenly seemed too small now that he was alone with Arthur.

"I should go nap. I'm exhausted for some reason." Merlin said quickly, getting off of the couch and heading to the door.

"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast," Arthur said just as Merlin had his hand on the doorknob.

Merlin paused, blinked, and looked back at Arthur with disbelief. Arthur grinned and said, "Enjoy your nap, Merlin. Maybe we'll talk this evening."

Merlin felt warmth curling in his stomach as he grinned back at Arthur, and he made a conscious effort to keep control of his magic. He slipped into his bedroom and fell into his bed, a goofy smile on his face and a growing suspicion that the people around him might be more aware of his feelings than he was.

(-)

**Well, that only took an eternity and a half. Forgive any glaring errors in the last part, I wanted to get this posted before I had to go to class. FYI, though I still have a functioning laptop, it doesn't want to work with the wireless internet at my university, so I don't always check like I want to, and therefore don't always look at and work on my fanfictions. Thank you for waiting so long, and an indeterminable length of time from now I should post another. ^_^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope chapter 6 was enjoyed, and I hope to get this chapter finished a bit quicker. XP BTW, I avoided any overt spoilers of Fight Club, fear not.**

**Also, first shot of real smut in this chapter. I quite like how things go, but you'll have to let me know what you think, if you're so inclined. I'm grateful for any feedback that helps me improve or encourages me to keep going. ^_^**

(-)

A few nights later, Arthur and Merlin were watching Fight Club. Arthur hadn't seen it so Merlin told him he should. Arthur was enjoying the fighting and the details and rules of Fight Club, and Merlin, who had seen it already, was enjoying the psychological aspects of the movie.

Some rowdy cheering outside caught both their attentions and Arthur went to the window to check while Merlin paused the movie. "Drunken louts," Arthur said, contempt thick in his voice.

Merlin's eyebrows went up. Arthur had never mentioned going drinking and had never come home drunk, but Merlin had assumed Arthur just drank socially rather than recreationally. "You don't like alcohol?"

"I hate it. My mum died when I was only a few weeks old. She was hit by a drunk driver. I don't drink. And people who drink to get drunk appall me. Sometimes the guys will drink while we're out, but never a lot, because they know how I feel about it." Arthur stared out the window with a bad-tempered expression.

Merlin was surprised at this rapid flow of personal information. He and Arthur had been getting along well and growing a little closer, but this sudden exposition was unexpected. "I can understand your reasoning."

Arthur looked away from the window to Merlin. "I was really glad when you never asked me out drinking or went out drinking or came home drunk. That was one big concern when I was getting some unknown roommate."

When Arthur smiled approvingly at him, Merlin felt like melting. More and more he was coming to realize what people had been telling him all along. He liked Arthur. It was stupid and it was going to hurt him in the end, but he couldn't help it. Something in him was naturally drawn to Arthur.

Of course, Merlin couldn't tell Arthur that he didn't drink because it would make it more likely that he would lose control of his magic. Telling Arthur that was almost on par with active suicide. Merlin had thought about what his father said and concluded that Arthur had never mentioned magic or talked about the laws banning it. And Merlin was too afraid of what Arthur might say to bring it up himself.

"I'm glad we get along too, Arthur," Merlin said, his smile feeling fuller and warmer than his statement merited.

Arthur grinned back but then stopped and shifted uncomfortably as his eyes grew wide. Merlin quickly regained his lax control of his magic, and Arthur settled down again. "What's with this bloody phantom? It's really getting quite...active. Do we call a priest?"

Merlin tried not to look guilty as he replied, "Does the church do exorcisms anymore? I doubt we'll find it in the phone book."

Arthur rejoined Merlin on the couch, saying, "Maybe not but this phantom is getting too bloody familiar for my comfort."

Merlin couldn't help but notice that Arthur had sat closer to him than he was before. They were pressed together at their sides and Arthur's hand felt perilously close to Merlin's leg. This thought made him warmer but he sternly told himself it wasn't because of any reason Merlin would want. It was probably just Arthur being spooked by his rampant magic.

"Shall I get a snack while it's paused?" Arthur asked, shifting a little against Merlin. Merlin tried not to let it affect him.

"Sure. Sounds good."

Arthur got up and headed to their kitchenette. "What do you want?"

"Surprise me."

Merlin heard Arthur chuckle a little about that. Then after hearing a cupboard and the freezer door open and close, he could hear Arthur coming back to the couch. When something cold and slightly moist touched the back of his neck, Merlin yelped.

"Surprised?" Arthur asked, holding a wrapped ice pop in front of Merlin's face.

"Ha bloody ha. You know how cold it is outside?"

"Forty-one degrees or so?" Arthur guessed.

"Something like that. Why would you bring me a ice pop?"

Arthur grinned mischievously. "Surprised you, didn't it?"

"You always surprise me, Arthur," Merlin said, sounding much more fond than he intended.

Arthur blushed. Merlin felt that his face was warm too. He took the ice pop and unwrapped it while Arthur rejoined him on the couch, again sitting quite close. Merlin hit play and the fight began again.

As Fight Club went on, Merlin sucked nervously on the ice pop. Arthur had brought him a light pink watermelon-flavored one and he was enjoying it quite a bit. He was slurping and licking and trying to keep it from dripping on him. Merlin never liked biting into ice pops; the cold hurt his teeth.

"You know, if I wasn't such a sensitive guy, I'd be making an insensitive joke right now," Arthur said, a careful levity in his voice.

"Hnm?" Merlin made an inquiring noise from around his ice pop.

Arthur looked pointedly at his mouth and after a moment of thought, Merlin felt far too warm and far, far too close to Arthur. He took the ice pop out of his mouth, unable to keep from making a slurping noise to stop juice from falling.

"Um, the cold hurts my teeth if I bite into the ice pop," Merlin explained.

Arthur stifled a laugh. "You sure that's what it is?"

Merlin gave him an only partially-genuine glare. "Yes."

Arthur considered him for a moment as Fight Club went on and then he said, "You know, we haven't done any self-defense training."

Merlin blinked, surprised by the change in topic. "No. I had hoped you had forgotten about it."

"Well, this has me thinking we need to protect your 'chastity'," Arthur said, stifling another laugh. Chastity was clearly emphasized.

Now the glare was almost entirely genuine. This was NOT something he wanted Arthur asking about. Or even indirectly hinting at. "Does it really?" Merlin asked, trying to sound neutral.

"Yeah. So what do you say? Up for some lessons soon?"

Merlin bit his lip and took more licks off the ice pop to stall answering. After a moment, he asked, "What would we be doing?"

"Basic self-defense. Disabling an armed or unarmed opponent, a little hand-to-hand, breaking a hold, stuff like that."

Merlin wished he could break Arthur's hold on him. "Okay."

Arthur grinned and said, "Good."

A few minutes later, Arthur said, "Part of me says this is brilliant and I should start a Fight Club, another part notes how many teeth they're losing and the number of bruises and cuts they're getting and says I'm too pretty for that."

Merlin choked on his ice pop juices while attempting not to laugh. "For once I'm going to tell you to listen to your ego."

"You know, you still haven't proven that I'm not amazing," Arthur noted casually.

Merlin slurped at his ice pop and didn't meet Arthur's eyes. He would not tell the prat that he was starting to find him wonderful in all sorts of ways he hadn't really expected to. He couldn't. So he didn't answer, pointedly watching the screen. He saw Arthur grin in his peripheral vision.

They watched in silence for most of the rest of the movie (barring Merlin's finishing his blowjob on his ice pop) and when they reached the revelation, Arthur was dumbfounded. "What?!"

"I know, it really got me the first time too. Not what I was expecting." Merlin said. They watched through the end and as the credits started rolling, Arthur blinked stupidly.

"That was a good movie, but bloody weird."

"Good, it suits you then," Merlin quipped.

Arthur frowned disapprovingly at him. "Why are you calling me weird?"

"Because we both know it's true. It's not a bad thing, Arthur."

"Why do you think I'm weird?"

Merlin gave Arthur a reassuring grin. "If you fit into the box of jock or prat, I wouldn't like you at all. You're weird because you don't fit into those categories. I can't classify you at all."

Arthur considered that, then nodded. "From that perspective, I suppose I might see how someone might misconstrue me as weird."

"'Misconstrue'?" Merlin asked.

"I'm not weird."

"You're one of the strangest people I know," Merlin said, smiling.

Arthur wasn't smiling. He looked quietly angry; not pronounced, but very noticeable to Merlin, who had made Arthur-watching into his personal pastime. Merlin still wasn't ready for Arthur to push him over and pin him to the couch. A surprised yelp escaped Merlin and he tried to get his legs up to knock Arthur off. Arthur adjusted and pinned them down too. This left him straddling Merlin's thighs, dangerously close to his pelvis.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Merlin demanded, trying to free his wrists from Arthur's grasp.

"Someone has you pinned, Merlin. How will you defend yourself?" Arthur asked in an eerily detached manner.

"This isn't a self-defense lesson!"

"Attackers generally don't warn you before they strike. You have to be able to either react when they do strike to avoid getting trapped, or learn to escape the trap once you're in. How will you escape?"

Merlin didn't answer, just squirmed and thrashed a bit more, incredibly panicked that Arthur would feel or see what this close proximity was starting to do to him. He had no idea what had gotten into Arthur, but he was enjoying this position far too much. He wanted Arthur to move a little higher till they were pressed together and Merlin could picture himself arching up into the sensation already. He wanted Arthur to bring their faces close and tease Merlin until he couldn't wait any longer and he had to move to kiss Arthur instead.

Stopping that line of thought before he got any harder, Merlin whined a little, against his will, and said, "Arthur, why are you attacking me?"

"You aren't serious about your safety. Something like this could happen to you, and you can't do a thing to stop it." Arthur was watching Merlin with an assessing eye.

Merlin knew there were many things he could do to stop it, but they all involved magic and would likely get him killed. But then he had an idea, a very risky, terrible, and wonderfully opportune idea. And good God, now that he had the idea he had to try it. But he would have to be careful to play it right.

Deliberately putting on a cocky grin and sly expression, Merlin waited for uncertainty to creep onto Arthur's face. It surprised him that it happened almost immediately. Arthur seemed immediately disarmed by just his expression, but Merlin went for the full plan. He leaned up and gently kissed Arthur on the lips.

It was astounding just how quickly Arthur flew off of Merlin then. He fell on the floor, banging his elbow on the coffee table and pushing the coffee table back as he started to scoot away. Merlin sat up, breathing heavier than he'd like Arthur to notice. That small kiss was electric and had a disproportionate effect on Merlin, given its briefness. He needed to make an excuse and get away from Arthur, pronto, or there was no way that Arthur would fail to see Merlin's...interest.

"Bloody hell, Merlin!" Arthur was rubbing his elbow and glaring at his roommate.

Merlin just grinned and asked, "I can't do a thing, can I?"

"That's not fighting fair!"

"If I'm in a vulnerable position like that being pinned down and straddled by some...muscular guy, I'll do whatever I bloody well please if I want to make him move."

Arthur was blushing, but he still scowled and pointed out, "Most guys who were pinning you down would take that as a sign of surrender and submission."

Merlin's eyebrows went up. "What makes you say that?"

"You seem to attract very aggressive men who want you sexually. They would have liked your initiative."

"I attract aggressive men, huh?" Merlin looked pointedly at Arthur. He should stop now, stop pushing this and messing with his roommate, but Merlin was getting a thrill from walking this tightrope, and his pants were tight enough that he wasn't entirely running the show.

Arthur growled a bit. "Not me. That's why I said _they_ would have liked it. What you did now would not have affected them the way it did me."

Merlin felt a sting in his chest and sighed. "Point. But still, I'm not without resourcefulness."

"Fine, A for effort," Arthur conceded, and he was still visibly shaken.

"Now that I've got a passing mark for today, I think I'll go to sleep."

Arthur checked his digital wristwatch. "It's 8:30. I thought we were going to watch movies all night tonight."

Merlin cursed inwardly. After a moment he said, "Let's at least have an intermission then, while I go decide if I want to arm myself for the rest of our movie night."

He didn't wait for a reply, just swiftly moved into his room and closed the door. He leaned against it as quietly as possible and Listened. He heard Arthur sigh, get up, and move the coffee table back into place. Then he heard Arthur walking towards Merlin's room.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Merlin. That wasn't really what I intended," Arthur said in a subdued voice. He didn't seem to expect an answer because Merlin heard him move back to the couch area.

Merlin got off of the door and took off his shirt then started undoing his pants as he sprawled backwards onto his bed. He groaned very quietly as his cock was freed and he started stroking it.

Arthur had straddled him. Pinned him down and watched him squirm. He kissed Arthur. Merlin imagined Arthur enjoying his kiss and pressing him down harder with renewed ferocity. He would move his pelvis up to press against Merlin's, and the pressure would be gorgeous. Arthur would change and straddle just one leg, leaving his knee pressing up between Merlin's legs. Merlin would be gasping and whimpering and completely at Arthur's mercy; that wonderful pushing contact being something he wanted from Arthur for a while now.

Maybe then Arthur would release Merlin and try to move off of him, but Merlin would drag him back down and kiss him, his hand grabbing Arthur's tight arse and squeezing while pressing Arthur down onto him. He could see Arthur's surprise, and the unguarded, unexpected arousal that would show on his face. He could practically feel Arthur trembling against him.

"Merlin, that's-" Arthur would shudder against Merlin as Merlin would grab both cheeks. Then Merlin's long fingers would go searching below and between Arthur's thighs, pressing him gently though his jeans.

Arthur would gasp and cling to Merlin, enjoying this new sensation how he never expected to. And as one hand continued that stimulation, Merlin's other hand would slide down the back of Arthur's jeans, searching out his real excitable tender area.

Merlin came sooner than he expected, but something about the way he imagine Arthur feeling against him was too good, too real, that he couldn't help it. He spurted his seed onto his chest and couldn't quite hold back a cry as he did. Panting, he wondered if Arthur had heard. It hadn't been a loud cry, but it wasn't a big apartment and Arthur had been right on the couch, facing the wall of Merlin's room.

He grabbed some tissues and cleaned up, then got properly dressed again. His hair probably looked a bit mussed, but it wasn't usually styled to perfection or anything, so Merlin didn't really care.

Trying to walk with confidence and not shame or guilt, Merlin went back in the living room to find it empty, and Arthur's door closed. He tried not to sigh audibly in relief; Arthur must have gone to his room for something while Merlin was occupied.

While he waited for Arthur to come back, he put Fight Club back into its case and got out two DVDs for him and Arthur to choose between. Then he went to pop some popcorn. When it was ready in a bowl on the coffee table and Arthur still hadn't emerged, Merlin went to knock on his door.

"Arthur, I have movies out and popcorn ready," Merlin said loudly.

Merlin listened and heard Arthur growl. "Be out in a minute."

"Okay, don't let me rush you."

When Arthur did emerge from his room, his hair was carefully combed and he was in his pajama pants and a a tshirt. Merlin had been sitting on the couch and looked behind him to meet Arthur's eyes. Just for a moment, then Merlin broke eye-contact as he felt his face heating up.

"I figured I'd get comfy while you were acquiring weapons," Arthur said, and he joined Merlin on the couch. There was a healthy amount of space between them.

"I decided against them after all. Underhanded tactics aside, I know I can't beat you in a fight."

Arthur grinned. "I'm glad you have admitted this."

"Doesn't mean I won't come up with new underhanded tactics if I have to," Merlin added.

At that announcement, Arthur gave him a shrewd sideways glance. Then asked, "So what movies are we choosing from?"

"I pulled out Donnie Darko and Sweeny Todd. I thought something darker would be fun."

"What are they about?"

"Well, Donnie Darko is about a time-traveling schizophrenic boy who hallucinates about a giant bunny that gives him a countdown till the end of the world. And Sweeny Todd is about a mad barber that slits his customers' throats, and the lady who lives beneath him turns them into meat pies. It's based on a musical, so there is singing," Merlin said.

Arthur blinked at him. "You watch the strangest bloody things, I swear. Both of those sound completely mental."

"That's kind of the point." Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur. "_I_ swear, Arthur, you're so in love with seeming 'normal' that I'm half-expecting you and your 'normal' public image to elope one day."

Now Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Why do you keep saying it like that?"

"What, 'normal'? I say it like that because it isn't real in the way most people believe it is. Normal is too relative to spread further than one's immediate personal circle. So when it's used as referring to a large body of people, I put quotes in my head. Because that kind of normal doesn't exist."

"You can't expect me to believe that there is nothing common enough between members of a society to be used as a standard," Arthur said, frowning.

Merlin grinned at him. "I love it when you rise to intellectual bait. And I believe in average, because that's mathematical."

Cocking his head inquisitively, Arthur just stared at Merlin for a bit. When Merlin started getting visibly uncomfortable, he said, "I'm just trying to suss out how you can be so obviously mad and still manage to make sense."

"I make sense, in a Tyler kind of way," Merlin replied, his grin returning.

"Is this my game now too? Well then..." Arthur seemed to be thinking for a good response, then he had a small smile on his face.

That made Merlin nervous and it looked like Arthur was a little uncertain too, but then Arthur moved closer to Merlin and pulled Merlin closer. He looked pretty nervous, but he leaned in and gently kissed Merlin, only for a few moments, before pulling away and grinning nervously.

"I am Jack's smirking revenge."

(-)

**Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoyed your present (a chapter that didn't take ages upon ages to post) even if that is a rather cruel cliffhanger there at the end. I'm also aware that besides the smutty and steamier bits, this wasn't an action packed chapter. I hope to compensate with a nice big development in chapter 8. Have a good holiday, and keep safe!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here comes chapter 8, hopefully not at the speed of a snail loaded on tranquilizers. BTW, in case I haven't mentioned yet, I try to put progress statuses on my profile, when I think about it. So there is some information on how close the new chapter is to being done.**

(-)

There was someone banging on their door the morning after their movie night (they only ended up staying up till 1:00am) and Merlin didn't feel like going to answer it. Last night had been confusing as hell, after Arthur kissed him -even if just for a game or one-upping Merlin- he had played it off as Arthur intended it, as a joke. They watched through both Sweeny Todd and Donnie Darko, but Merlin was more focused on covertly watching Arthur.

It was annoying, that banging on the door. Merlin crawled out of bed and went to answer it. "Arthur, Merlin, you guys can't ignore this!"

It was Lancelot. Merlin opened the door and Lancelot pushed a newspaper at his face. Merlin took it and read the headline: Prince Pendragon retains his virtue at 22! Merlin was shocked. Underneath the headline, a picture accompanied the article of Arthur holding Juliet's hand and smiling shyly at her.

Merlin felt a little sick. Both Arthur's identity and his virginity were publicized on the front page of the university newspaper. And it would seem that was Juliet's aim all along. She was cited as the author of the article. She must have had an accomplice follow her and Arthur to take the picture. She was probably an ambitious journalism major.

Then Merlin remembered that he wasn't supposed to know who Arthur was. He knew he already looked shocked, so he asked Lance, "Pendragon?"

Lancelot, apparently intent on the virginity angle rather than the identity, looked back at Merlin with wide eyes, not having realized that this would supposedly reveal to Merlin who Arthur was. "Well, yes. If the whole school is going to know, doesn't make sense to try to keep it from you."

Lancelot pushed further into their apartment and looked both ways down the hall before closing the door. "I came here as soon as I picked that up, before anyone else could tell Arthur."

"What's all this racket? Tell me what?" Arthur came into the living area stretching and yawning.

Merlin just looked at Lancelot and then handed Arthur the newspaper. Arthur's eyes went wide, and his face bright red as he took in the headline and photo. He started reading the article, looking more upset as it progressed. His expressions would shift between hurt and infuriated, sometimes blending, and Lancelot knew better than Merlin what to do.

Arthur tossed the newspaper aside, and he still didn't seem to know if he should cry or scream. Lancelot solved that problem by putting his hands on Arthur's shoulders. They were fairly close in height, with Lancelot being taller, and Arthur seemed to crack. He wrapped his arms around Lancelot and started shuddering as he cried against Lancelot's collarbone and upper chest.

"It's okay, Arthur. It's going to be okay," Lancelot said soothingly, hands gently rubbing Arthur's back.

Merlin was a bit stunned at this display of emotion, but then considered that Arthur had some rather extreme reactions to minor things, so it made sense that something like this would overfill him with emotions until he couldn't hold them in.

And God, he wanted to hold Arthur too. This newspaper thing was appalling, despicable. Arthur was already keyed-up enough trying to keep up appearances, probably knowing his father would get angry if he started acting like anything other than what he was supposed to. Watching Arthur cry was painful, and it made Merlin want to cry too.

Lancelot asked Arthur, "Should we go in your room so we can talk?"

He had already started walking, but Arthur said, "No, Merlin should stay." Arthur was sniffling and wiping his eyes, already trying to gather himself back up. "I mean, we can talk in here. I trust Merlin."

Arthur broke free of Lance's embrace and slumped down in the middle of the couch. He took a deep shuddering breath and said, "I should have known it was too good to be true."

Lance and Merlin sat on either side of him, and Lance said, "I had a bad feeling about her. I knew it couldn't be coincidence. She targeted you."

"Heartless bitch," Merlin agreed. "Gaining your confidence for the sole purpose of betraying it. It's vile."

"I don't think we can sue for libel. Since both the facts she talked about are true," Lance said with a sigh.

Arthur frowned at him. "How do you know that I'm a virgin?"

Lance gave him a wry smile. "Please, Arthur. Even if you didn't tell me, I think I would know. I can read you pretty well."

Arthur blushed and looked away. At Merlin. "Arthur, it's not the end of the world. It's embarrassing as hell and probably hurts, but you'll be okay. And who cares what the campus says, anyway? Rocks and logs may bite like dogs, but with friends, words shouldn't be lethal."

Both Lancelot and Arthur gave him a questioning look for that. "What the hell was that last part?" Arthur asked.

Merlin felt a shy smile on his face as he felt the blush creeping onto his cheeks. "It's just something I kinda heard...and modified for this occasion. Because words can hurt. They can hurt a lot. But friends get you through it."

Arthur grinned at him. "God, Merlin, I'm turning into a great big girl just sitting here talking with you." He gave Merlin a gentler smile and added, "Thanks. You're right. I'll be fine."

Lancelot put Arthur into a headlock from behind and started giving him a noogie. "Why is Merlin suddenly better at talking sense into you and comforting you than I am?"

Arthur elbowed Lancelot in the stomach and when he was free he said, "Merlin's just good with words. He's an English major. And he's Merlin. Which means he's nutters, but somehow makes sense."

Lance smiled at Merlin. "I suppose I can see that. Merlin is something special."

Merlin felt a bit self-conscious with them both looking at him, but he saw Arthur look thoughtful all of a sudden. "What?"

Arthur considered him and said, "You haven't asked about the article. At all."

"He asked me," Lancelot said.

"About the name?"

"Yeah."

Arthur looked at Merlin with even more scrutiny. "And you don't care?"

"I was pretty shocked and it seems a bit strange, but you've been Arthur and you'll continue being Arthur; it's not like my knowing will change anything." Merlin shrugged.

Arthur's eyes got a bit wider and he asked, "You're serious, aren't you?"

Merlin frowned. "Well yeah."

Lance put a hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Merlin is something special."

Blinking stupidly for a second, Arthur finally grinned at Merlin and said to Lancelot, "He is. And you want him all to yourself, don't you?"

Lance only went a little red when he replied, "Yes, I think I do. But I have yet to take him on a date."

"You should probably ask him out before he gets picked up by someone on campus. Or just plain abducted." Arthur was grinning at Merlin still, and Merlin loved that. But his encouragement of Lancelot hurt.

He knew Arthur was straight, he knew that Arthur didn't know that Merlin liked him. He knew that Lancelot did like him, but after all that happened with Arthur, Merlin wondered if he could feel that way about Lance. Something told him, 'No, not like you feel about Arthur. But Lancelot is a good man, and you do feel something fond for him.'

Lancelot appeared to be thinking. "I don't suppose I could turn a self-defense training session into a date? We could get food after."

Arthur's grin turned to a slight frown, but Lancelot was watching Merlin. 'Think about it, Merlin. Even if you did self-defense with Arthur and got to feel him pressed against you, you couldn't do anything about it with him. But if you let Lancelot teach you, all that physical contact might lead somewhere. Lance would probably _like_ to do things with you; he's not _afraid_ of boys.'

A memory of last night with Arthur's panic over being kissed flashed through Merlin. "Sound interesting," Merlin said, casting the slightest glance at Arthur to see his reaction. Arthur was frowning more pronouncedly.

Lancelot grinned. "Good. I'll have to check my schedule to make sure I'm free, but I think I could do it Wednesday night."

"So you won't be doing self-defense with me after all?" Arthur asked, cutting through what Merlin had been about to say.

Merlin frowned a little at him. "You tried to initiate an impromptu session last night. That didn't work so well. I think I can do at least one training session with Lance. But if that makes you too jealous-"

Arthur blushed furiously and said, "I'm not jealous!"

Merlin raised an eyebrow at him. Arthur looked like he wanted to grab Merlin and do something either painful or humiliating to him. Arthur's back was to Lance, but even without seeing Arthur's face, Lancelot seemed to know that Arthur wasn't quite right. He wrapped his arms around Arthur from behind, and pulled him back onto Lance gently.

"Calm down, Arthur. Merlin can choose for himself, and you're only upset because it's me."

"It's not because of you!" Arthur growled, then blushed and tried to fight out of Lance's grip. Lance let him go. Arthur went back into his room claiming, "I need more sleep."

The door to Arthur's room closed with some excess force, and Merlin rolled his eyes and said, "I swear, sometimes he acts more like a girl than Gwen does."

Lancelot frowned disapprovingly at Merlin. "He really can get very out of sorts when he doesn't have enough sleep. And I don't care what he says, the fact that it's me you'd rather train with upsets him."

"Yeah, well, he's being pretty unpredictable lately and I think it's starting to wear thin."

"What did you mean by him trying to initiate an impromptu session?"

Merlin felt heat rising in his face. "He pinned me down out of nowhere to see if I could get him off me."

"Did you?"

"With the help of underhanded tactics, yes."

Lancelot looked intrigued. "What tactic did you use that let you beat him?"

Merlin knew he was blushing now. "I gave him a quick peck on the lips. I knew he'd bloody well leave me alone if I did."

Lancelot's eyes went wide and his eyebrows rose. "Did he run screaming?"

Merlin chuckled, "No, just scrambled off me and fell off the couch."

Lance chuckled too. "Arthur's a sweet guy, but sometimes he is a bit over-sensitive. Specifically about me, as you noted."

"So how much fuss is this article going to cause?" Merlin asked.

Lancelot frowned. "It was causing a fair amount when I picked up the paper to see what the fuss was about."

"That heinous bitch. There's some underhanded tactics I'd like to use on her," Merlin growled.

That garnered a warning look from Lancelot. "Don't do anything...risky."

"I have no intentions of doing anything risky," Merlin assured him.

Lancelot smiled. "Good. Don't want you getting hurt or...or anything."

Merlin looked at the clock on the wall, thinking he had probably slept in later than usual. It was 10:00 am. "Well, it looks like my late night with Arthur made me miss European Literature."

Lancelot frowned. "You knew it was going to be Monday, right? Why did you agree to have a movie night into early hours if you knew you had to get up early?"

'Because _Arthur_ suggested it,' Merlin's brain said smugly.

"I felt like I needed a break. And today we were just going to discuss our reading assignment, which was something I have already studied in another class. I won't make a habit of it; I'll be fine."

Lancelot shrugged. "Speaking of class, though, I need to head out. I'll probably call or text you later to work out the details on our date." Grinning at Merlin, Lancelot waved and left their apartment.

Merlin sighed, thinking that there would be plenty of excitement for a few days, but then most of the uproar would probably die down. He was about to go to his room when Arthur came out from his room, holding out his cellphone, which was spouting what Merlin recognized as the refrain to "Calling You", to Merlin. "It's my sister. I don't want her coming down here, but I can't talk to her right now either," Arthur explained. There was a pitiful pleading in Arthur's eyes that made Merlin even sorrier for him.

Merlin took the phone and answered, "Hello, Arthur's phone, Merlin speaking."

Morgana made an interested noise on the other end. "Why do you have his phone, Merlin?"

"He can't talk right now, but I heard his phone and thought I should answer it."

A thoughtful hum/purr came from Morgana and then she asked, "Have your read your school newspaper today?"

Arthur apparently saw the surprise and slight horror on Merlin's face because his face took on a "doomed" expression. He groaned sub-audibly and went into his room. He left the door open, and Merlin was sure Arthur was still listening.

"Um, yes, Lancelot was kind enough to play paperboy for us today."

"I do love him. Did you read the Classifieds section?"

Merlin blinked. "No, rather distracted by the front page's headline and photograph, they're really quite large."

"Arthur's listening, isn't he? Don't pick up your paper right now. But in the Classifieds it says, 'J seeks A for follow-up interview.'"

Merlin was now very aware that Arthur was listening. "I wasn't aware of that. That's...not good."

"Quite. I'm thinking I should come to your school, find this girl, and slip a laxative/paralytic agent into her food or drink to discourage this kind of approach."

He was trying to decide if she was joking when she added, "Of course, Arthur shouldn't know anything about it. I'm sure he's pretty upset already."

"Yeah, pretty much," Merlin replied, trying to keep his words unspecific. She was serious about the drugging?

"It's actually good you answered. Now I don't have to bully Arthur to get your number. What is it? I've decided you'll make a good accomplice." Morgana's tone was all business.

Merlin turned his back to Arthur's door and pulled out his cell phone. "How about yours?"

A pleased hum came from the other end of the line and Morgana said, "Crafty; keeping Arthur in the dark. I knew I liked you. But you have to call or text so I have your number. If you don't keep me up to date on him, I'll have to call you."

"Of course," Merlin assured her. He put her number into his phone as she told him, and then he added, "And I was going to pursue a less...interesting solution anyway."

"Independent thinker/planner who also wants to look out for my brother. I am so pleased with your being his roommate, Merlin."

Merlin tried to fight a grin at her gleeful tone. She might not be so grateful if she knew how he felt about Arthur. But then again, when they first met she had been...suggestive of such things? Or was she just teasing him? Didn't matter.

"Well, I'm going to go, Merlin, but don't forget to get your number to me, or I'll be quite cross."

"Don't worry, Morgana, it'll be fine."

"Alright, Merlin. I look forward to speaking to you soon."

She hung up and he ended the call on Arthur's phone. Arthur was at his bedroom doorway looking at Merlin expectantly.

"Your sister is bloody sinister."

Arthur gave Merlin a tired smile and took his phone back as Merlin held it out for him. "That she is. She was calling about the paper? My sister is also eerily aware of things she shouldn't know so quickly."

"Yeah, that surprised me. How do you think she found that out?"

Arthur shrugged. "You told me women were the eternal enigma, and I swear, my sister is the biggest enigma of them all."

"I think I believe you."

A thought seemed to cross Arthur's mind and he considered Merlin. "What was she talking to you about for _that long_ though?"

Merlin tried not to falter, but he gave Arthur a wide-eyed look for a moment before he could help it. "Well, she wanted me to inform on you to her."

Arthur smiled. "You agreed? And then told me?"

"I told you I wouldn't lie to you about you. That was about you."

Arthur was watching Merlin very intently now. "I'm pretty damn lucky to have you for my friend, Merlin."

Stab. Twist. Merlin gave Arthur a small smile, feeling the guilt starting to drown him already. Because while he hadn't lied, he hadn't told Arthur everything, which was precariously close to lying. Withholding information could be considered tantamount to lying. But he agreed with Morgana that it was bad to let Juliet do this with no repercussions. And he didn't want to remind Arthur of Juliet if he could help it.

Maybe he should be honest with Arthur. At that thought, Merlin suddenly had a strong desire to be completely honest with Arthur, to tell him everything he had been holding back. He bit his lip and tried not to let the feeling overtake him.

"You all right? You're giving me a funny look."

Merlin sighed and shook his head a bit. "Just fighting off a fleeting bout of insanity."

Arthur frowned. "Fleeting? But haven't you been struggling with that bout for...how old are you again?"

Merlin grinned at Arthur. "You're hilarious."

"I know, my comedic genius is second only to my swordplay and good looks."

That garnered an eye-roll. "I really need to figure out how to take you down a peg."

Another frown from Arthur. "Some might say you've already been handed an opportunity."

Merlin blinked, returning the frown, then his eyes widened. "No, I can't use that stupid article to say anything. That's amateurish. I want to catch you picking your nose or maybe drooling while you sleep."

Arthur abruptly smiled and started trying to stifle laughter. He failed, and started to laugh in earnest, the grin on his face contagious, as was his laughter. Merlin was laughing right with him and grinning like a fool, and it took them a minute or so to calm down.

Merlin wiped a tear away from his eye, taking deep, sighing, calming breaths. "No, I can't say anything about it at all. Glass houses and whatnot. Besides, I don't see why it's such a big deal."

Arthur snorted. "Well, it was a big deal in high-school, so why shouldn't it be here? I mean...wait, glass houses?"

A blush was spreading on Merlin's face; he could feel it. "I try to live by that proverb. Broken glass is messy and a chore to clean up."

Arthur looked intrigued and was about to reply when his phone rang again. This time the ringtone was a little harder to recognize and it took Merlin a second to place it: "Just Like You" by Three Days Grace.

Whoever that ringtone belonged to, they weren't a pleasant surprise. Arthur eyes went wide then he immediately squeezed them shut. He took a deep breath. "I have to take this, Merlin."

Merlin nodded and Arthur went into his room and closed the door behind him. Merlin flopped over the arm of the couch with his feet dangling off the end -in his usual fashion- and Listened. Whoever Arthur was talking to must have been loud, because Merlin could make out their words too.

"Are you really still a virgin? Why on earth would you tell a girl that?" the rather angry-sounding voice demanded.

"I thought we were getting closer. I didn't know she did journalism."

"You're a trusting fool. And this stupid little stunt, though petty, could come back to haunt you in the future!"

"Doesn't everything?" Arthur asked.

That shut whoever was on the other end up. For a moment anyway. "Don't get all sentimental and poetic on me now. I hope you've learned from this, Arthur, because I don't want anything like this to happen again."

Merlin heard Arthur inhale shakily, and was pretty sure he was mad. "I've learned. And don't worry about it happening again. Now I've realized that I need to become suspicious and devious to survive. Better to see the trap coming or to trap others before they trap you, right? I'll make sure to end up alone and friendless too. Now that we've settled that; goodbye."

He heard Arthur taking deep breaths and when he heard footsteps towards the door, Merlin released his focus. Arthur came out of his room and Merlin sat up and looked at him over the back of the couch. "So which of your friends gave themselves a ringtone like that?" Merlin asked, getting a sick feeling that he might already know.

Arthur snorted. "My friends set their own ringtones. I choose ringtones for any other important people."

"Which important person was it?" Merlin asked. He wished he could sound non-chalant about this, but he couldn't.

Arthur tried to smile at Merlin but it mostly looked like a grimace. "That was my dad."

(-)

**Okay, hope that no one was too put off by Arthur's reaction to the article; up till now he's been pretty high-strung, so a lesser reaction didn't seem to quite fit. Wow, I'm impressing myself with update speed; but, please don't count on swift updates. I'm heading back to school in a day or two and I don't know how hectic my classes will be. Bright side is I have two days that have tons of free time, so if the workload isn't too large, I can write then. ^_^ Kk, please let me know what you thought of this, if you are so inclined.**


	9. Chapter 9

**First thing: I forgot to give credit to my beta reader, plummuffins, when I posted the last chapter. She was certainly to thank for getting chapter 8 faster than the speed of a snail loaded with tranquilizers. ^_^**

**Also, hope you took my advice about not counting on swift updates. This one was pretty bad, and I apologize. I was stuck at the bumping into the teacher bit for way too long.**

**Nope, not dead, just adding another note a month or so after the previous one. Got stuck at many different points in this chapter. It's almost done, gotta put the finishing touches on it.**

**Challenge for this chapter: A chapter where Merlin doesn't interact with Arthur, except maybe at the end.**

(-)

After Merlin's afternoon class, he sent Morgana a text. **Pursuing uninteresting solution now.**

He had looked up where on campus he could find the journalism department and he was walking there now. He had some of what he wanted to say prepared in his head, but it all got blown to hell when he opened the door to the newsroom and found Juliet and some staff member getting their coats on as if to leave.

Juliet looked surprised, but not rattled. "Hello,uh... Merlin, wasn't it?"

Merlin fought down the nearly over-whelming urge to curse the stupid twat. "Yes, it's Merlin. Arthur's friend."

"Right," Juliet said, nodding as if this wasn't something that might make trouble for her.

"Um, Merlin, we were just closing down for the night; perhaps you could come back tomorrow?" the man offered.

"I wanted to file a complaint against the paper. I came here first, rather than go any higher."

That got the man's attention. He took off his coat and sat down on a rolling chair nearby. "I'm Mr. Pell, staff adviser to the paper. What's your complaint?"

Merlin sat on a stool near the door and studied the man for a moment. Probably in his forties, wearing khaki pants and a white button up shirt with a black sweater-vest. His hands were smudged with black ink, probably from freshly printed newspapers. He had a few smudges of black ink on his forehead where he had probably thoughtlessly brushed back some of his wavy blond hair. This was a man who didn't just advise. He _worked_ with the newspaper; got his hands dirty. Merlin made a calculated guess that he really loved journalism.

Some professors taught to earn money, some taught because they loved what their subject. The latter are obviously the more valuable, though the two intersect most of the time. And Merlin was thinking he might find this teacher very valuable to him if he was driven by his love of journalism. Merlin could use that.

Merlin wanted to brush off the cold calculation; this was about heart, about right and wrong, not about probabilities or observable data. "I came to complain about the article on the front page of today's paper, and about the questionable methods used to obtain the information in that article."

Juliet's eyes narrowed just a little as Mr. Pell glanced over at her. "I've actually had a discussion about it already. It was a last minute switch to the front page. The Editor in Chief made the call."

"It was a bad call. Feigning interest in someone to get a story is not proper journalistic method. And putting it on the front page makes the paper look like a gossip rag."

Mr. Pell's eyebrows went up at that, but more in an intrigued fashion than a surprised one. "Oh? I wasn't told how the story was acquired."

Merlin glanced at Juliet. "She can tell whatever story with whatever spin on it that she wants, but the truth is that she intentionally gave Arthur the impression that she was interested in him and he believed her; he trusted her with his secrets and she published them. She obviously had help since she's in the picture that's on the front page. This was quite obviously planned. It was given some forethought, so in no way was it accidentally discovered, opportunely documented in a picture, and then casually splashed across the front page. Or anything along those lines. These methods scream 'tabloid' to me, not 'newspaper'."

Juliet was glaring now, undisguised. Mr. Pell turned to her and said, "And your story?"

"I was just tying my shoe when Arthur started talking to me. He seemed interesting and he was good looking, so I thought I'd get to know him better. I was deciding that he wasn't that interesting after all when he told me who he was and that he was a virgin. I couldn't let such an interesting lead go, so I worked it into an article. I didn't think Arthur would care; if he's that well-connected he's probably dealt with the media before."

Merlin abruptly stood from the stool so swiftly it fell over. "Wouldn't care? What the _hell_ is wrong with you? You exposed his identity and humiliated him after he trusted you! You have no ethics, and your moral integrity is nonexistent. Your stupid article doesn't belong in a student paper because it doesn't affect the students. Who really cares about gossip about Arthur? Write about budget cuts or new programs. Something without people, because you should be kept as far from humanity as possible!"

During his rant, Merlin felt power building inside him, and he fought to keep it in check. Mr. Pell looked alarmed and Juliet looked a bit surprised, but her eyes were narrowed and she was watching Merlin carefully. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

That was too much. Merlin felt something snap inside of him. "_**You wouldn't know what love is if it walked up and kissed you, you horrific, soulless cow!**_"

He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He was shaking, and he was fairly certain his magic had just done something. He had to control himself or he'd get himself killed. "Mr. Pell, I've told you my complaints and I'd rather not share oxygen near this devious fiend, so I'll be going now. Do whatever you think you should."

Merlin didn't wait for an answer, he just left, charging down the hallway, around a corner, and into a person. He was moving with enough momentum to knock both of them over. He shook a little as he got up, still filled with adrenaline.

The man had been carrying a few books and Merlin picked them up and handed them to the man. He was probably a professor, but a young professor. He had brown hair that was parted down the middle and worn a bit longer than most men. He was attractively muscular and his face was very rugged and manly, and he wore square glasses over his grey eyes. In his professional-wear, Merlin looked at the man and thought of Clark Kent who wasn't Superman, no, never.

Even as he looked at the man, the man smiled at him and said, "You might want to slow down, just a bit."

Merlin was still breathing heavily, but his shaking was calming and his magic had stopped building and vying for release. "Sorry, sir."

He didn't stand around to chat; he kept right on charging away. When he was moving down the middle of campus he had only slowed a little, and that was only to avoid attracting a lot of attention. He heard footsteps thumping behind him and turned to see Lancelot trying to catch up with him. He stopped and waited.

"Man, Merlin, you can really move. What's up?" Lance wondered.

"Nothing much. I just didn't feel like dawdling."

"It looked like a different motivation than that. You looked angry."

"I'll tell you about it sometime when I'm not angry then."

"Oh. Okay," Lance said, shrugging. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Well, only once a day, and you just blew your opportunity for today."

Lancelot grinned at him. "Might I beg for charity and ask for another chance?"

"Even if I gave it to you, you've just wasted it."

Now Lancelot was chuckling. "What do you like to eat, other than pizza? I remember Gwen saying that you were a picky eater, so I thought I should consult with you and plan ahead of time where we'll eat."

Merlin abruptly felt a bit nervous, suddenly reminded of his upcoming date. And he found himself going soft and gooey inside from how considerate Lancelot was being. Merlin hadn't had more than one boyfriend, and the one he had had wasn't the nicest or most considerate boyfriend.

"The worst idea would be to take me to a fancy restaurant," Merlin told him.

Lancelot blinked in surprise and then smiled a little. "It's odd to hear a date say that, but since we'll be coming from self-defense training, we would be out of place at a fancy restaurant anyway. Any suggestions?"

"Where are we going to do this?"

"Well, the Rec seemed like a good idea; some of our student activity fees go towards that, so we might as well use it."

Merlin thought for a moment, then said, "Wendy's is near there, right? That would work."

Lancelot grinned at him. "I'm surprised that everyone hasn't asked you out; you're such an easy date." His eyes widened as he realized what that sounded like. "I didn't mean that in a bad way! I mean, I didn't mean that _you're_ easy just easy to _please_-no, I didn't mean that either..."

Merlin grinned and couldn't help but laugh. "I understand. My food standards are specific, if not high."

Lance sighed and smiled at him. "There. That's what I meant. And now we have our plans laid for Wednesday night. I can't wait."

"Me neither," Merlin agreed.

"Where are you off to next?" Lancelot asked as Merlin started walking again.

"I thought I'd read at the library for a bit. Give Arthur some space and time to sleep so he won't bite my head off when I do go home."

Lance nodded. "The library is between here and my next class. I'll walk you there."

"And they say chivalry is dead," Merlin said with a grin. They started walking towards the library and one of the buildings that was nothing but lecture halls; Lawson.

Lance glanced over his shoulder for a second before he looked at Merlin and replied, "Only among the uncultured."

Merlin glanced over his shoulder too, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. "What were you looking at?"

"I thought I saw someone I knew," Lancelot said carelessly.

Merlin frowned, but then shrugged and dismissed it. He had better things to think about. Like wondering what Mr. Pell was going to do about the article. Merlin probably hadn't made a sterling impression there at the end. Nevermind the fact that his magic had done something there, probably to Juliet, and possibly to Mr. Pell.

Maybe he should go see Gaius again. His magic seemed to be growing more powerful, too powerful for him to control. Because, while his emotions strengthened his magic, they had never caused quite so much power to build up in him as had just happened in the Journalism room. It frightened him. He could hurt somebody. Or even if no one got hurt, he could cause something blatantly magical to happen and get himself jailed and executed.

"You okay, Merlin? You look worried," Lance noted, putting an arm around Merlin's shoulders.

The weight of Lancelot's arm was reassuring and Merlin smiled a little as he met Lancelot's gaze. "Just thinking I should go see a family friend."

Lancelot frowned and seemed to consider that. "One of your father's friends?"

Merlin felt a bit nervous about that, but Lancelot had trusted him, and he already knew about Merlin's magic. "Yeah. He knows about...skin conditions, and he can help me if my 'skin condition' starts to get out of control."

"Is it out of control?" Lancelot asked, immediately looking concerned and flicking his eyes around, presumably to monitor anyone who might hear them.

"It's getting there."

Lance sighed and shook his head. "I know that 'skin conditions' aren't my area of expertise, but let me know if there's anything I can do to help you."

"I will. Thank you, Lance," Merlin said. They had arrived at the rather impressively-proportioned steps to the library.

"I suppose I must leave you here," Lancelot said, sounding genuinely regretful.

"I'm sure I'll see you soon," Merlin said with a smile.

Lancelot grinned and waved, then walked rapidly toward Lawson. Merlin suspected that he had made himself late so he could stop and walk with Merlin. That made Merlin smile to himself as he walked in the building.

He found a comfortable chair that was within range of most of the foot-traffic coming through the first floor. Merlin liked to people watch sometimes, and he didn't mind the noise. He read for twenty minutes or so before he heard, "Oh, it's you!"

He looked up to see the Clark Kent guy from before. "Um, yeah. Did I actually injure you or something?"

Clark Kent smiled at him and shook his head. "No, but I couldn't help but notice how upset you looked and when I saw Mr. Pell looking shaken, I stopped to talk with him."

Merlin's face grew warm. "Ah, well, I lost my temper a bit. Mr. Pell seems nice enough, but that foul excuse for a human being is beyond tolerating."

"Yes, he mentioned that you weren't terribly fond of Juliet," Clark Kent mentioned as he took the seat beside Merlin's.

Suspicion came to the forefront of Merlin's thoughts. "Who are you?"

Clark Kent smiled and shook his head bemusedly. "Where are my manners; I'm Johnathan, but you can call me John. I know Juliet because she's in one of my classes."

"Oh." Merlin still felt wary, but he asked, "Is there a reason you stopped to chat?"

John smiled again. "I just found what Mr. Pell said about you to be quite intriguing. Very few people have the courage it takes to stand up against any kind of authority, including the media. And you did it for your friend."

Merlin frowned. "Arthur's my good friend, and no one deserves to be treated like she treated him."

"Still, you're quite impressive. Mr. Pell said your name was Merlin; I assume you don't mind if I call you Merlin?" John's face looked earnest and pleasant.

"Seeing how that's my name, no, I don't mind, John," Merlin said. The guy seemed nice enough, it wouldn't hurt to be polite.

John grinned at his response. "He said you seemed to have a sharp wit. He also said that though he's never seen you in the journalism department before, you seemed to have a good fundamental grasp of the ethics of journalism. Have you studied Journalism before?"

Crossing his arms with renewed suspicion, Merlin said, "You know, this feels an awful lot like an interview."

John laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to ask so many questions. I just thought you were very interesting and wanted to make sure I introduced myself so I could talk to you in the future."

Merlin noted a few things that suddenly grabbed his attention. The pupils of John's eyes were a bit larger than the lighting in the room would demand, he was leaning towards Merlin a bit with open body language, except that one of his feet was tapping nervously. Was John attracted to him? Is that why he stopped to talk?

"Yes, well, it's nice to meet you, John. It's a big campus, but I'm sure we'll see each other again soon," Merlin said, hoping the guy would take the hint and leave. He seemed nice enough, but Merlin wasn't feeling overly emotionally stable and he didn't want to deal with this guy and risk anything magical happening again.

John stood up and nodded to him, still smiling. "I'm sure we will. Bye, Merlin."

As John walked off, Merlin felt a little stunned. The guy seemed interested in Merlin, yet he was pleasant, polite, could take a hint, and hadn't attempted to molest Merlin at all. Excluding Lance, he was beginning to worry that maybe he was a creep magnet. Maybe not. Hallelujah.

(-)

When Merlin got back to their apartment, Arthur was gone, probably in class, and Merlin flopped on the couch; too many thoughts running through his head to easily manage. There was a knock on the door not long after he got back and he groaned and pulled himself up to answer it.

Gwen was outside, giving him a small smile. "Hey. Can I come in?"

Merlin moved aside and closed the door behind her after she entered. "Something up? You seem a bit...reserved."

"Did you guys see the paper already?" Gwen asked, looking around, presumably to see if Arthur was lurking somewhere in the apartment. After she had checked both bedrooms and peeked into the bathroom, she sat down on the sofa with huff.

Her question drew a long sigh from Merlin as he joined her. "Yeah. Arthur wasn't pleased. Juliet definitely turned out to be as bad or worse than we suspected."

"I can see why he wouldn't be pleased," Gwen said. "So it's true?"

Merlin nodded. "Both facts are true. I'm rooming with the governor's son."

Gwen whistled. "That's a bit dodgy, isn't it? You've been careful, right?"

"I don't want to talk about that right now. I'm going to see Gaius later to make sure I can control myself. So is that what you came to talk about? Arthur?"

"Yeah, actually I came to talk _to_ Arthur, but he doesn't seem to be here," Gwen said, looking around the apartment again as if Arthur might pop out of the fridge or something.

"You wanted to talk to him about the article?" Merlin asked, puzzled.

Gwen bit her lip. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior. And I also wanted to ask you how things are going with Lance."

Merlin blushed. "Not bad. He walked me to the library earlier. We have a date set for Wednesday."

"Did you tell him not to take you anywhere fancy?" Gwen asked.

Merlin grinned at that. "He asked me on his own where we should go since he knows I'm picky. I was really surprised how considerate he is."

"He's very impressive," Gwen agreed. She hesitated, then added, "Does this feel a bit queer to you, this thing where we're both going on dates with him at the same time?"

"Everything feels queer to me. It's my natural state of being," Merlin replied, grinning.

Gwen frowned at him. "I'm serious, Merlin."

"Sorry, couldn't pass that up. And yes, it feels a bit strange, discussing our dates with the same guy. But even if he doesn't pick me in the end, I think it will have been worth it to help him figure out which of his he wants. Either of us would be lucky to have him, and I only want the best for you, Gwen."

Gwens eyes looked a bit wet and she glared at him. "Say all that sweet stuff and I'm going to get diabetes. Don't you dare make me cry."

Merlin chuckled and hugged her. She returned the hug with even more force than he. "I love you, Merlin. I don't know what we'd do without each other."

"Without me to hold you back, you'd be a mass murderer or some such by now," Merlin replied.

The hug lingered a few moments more, but they broke apart when the door opened. Arthur walked in and examined them with a raised eyebrow. "Do I need to tell Lancelot that his two birds are going at it behind his back?"

Merlin rolled his eyes and Gwen frowned at him. "No, I actually came to apologize to you, Arthur."

Arthur blinked at her. "For what?"

Gwen sighed and got up to face Arthur as he closed the door and moved into the living area. "I admit that I haven't really been fond of you, but some of that was due to me jumping to conclusions when we met. One of my first impressions of you made me think you were a philandering man-whore. So I treated you as such. But I was wrong, and I'm sorry I misjudged you."

Arthur looked shocked, then blinked as he thought of something and a blush crept onto his face. "Is this because you read that article?"

"Well, yes. Partially because it seemed to prove to me that I misjudged you, and partially because anyone who would publish something like that is a heinous twat-licker and I can't stand by and let someone get away with it," Gwen told him seriously.

Merlin tried to stifle his laugh. "Heinous twat-licker..."

Gwen turned to glare at Merlin. "I'm serious. I saw a few people talking and laughing about it on the way here."

"What did you do?" Merlin asked, knowing she would have done something; her temper too out of her control to stand back and watch.

"I took the newspaper from the guy in the middle, calmly folded it closed and rolled it up and, less calmly, poked him in the stomach with it. He fell backwards off his chair and I called him a tiny, flaccid prick," Gwen told him. She turned back to Arthur. "It's not okay for anyone to treat someone else like that. And people who take joy in such things disgust me."

Arthur was watching and listening to Gwen with something akin to awe. "You're mad as a hatter, but you're one hell of a woman," he told her after a few moments passed.

And Gwen smiled at Arthur, offering her hand to him. "Well, I think we'll get on better now than we did before, so let me know if you get a lot of flack from that stupid article. It's the least I can do."

Arthur grinned back at her and shook her offered hand. "I don't know about that, but I'm glad we're on more agreeable terms."

"Indeed. Perhaps we should have a movie night again...without any kissing, this time," Gwen suggested. She moved towards the door. "I'll see you guys later," she said before she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Arthur sighed heavily. "That is one mad but incredible bird."

Merlin watched Arthur; his posture had relaxed a lot since when he first came in. Merlin had noticed that he looked very tense when he came through the door, but now he was looser. Merlin smiled, knowing from experience that having Gwen fighting for you was of great reassurance.

"I think we should make sure Gwen and my sister never meet. I don't fancy watching the world burn," Arthur said at last, thoughtfully.

(-)

**Well, done. Hopefully the next chapter will come out closer to the pace of a rattlesnake on PCP rather than that of a snail on lethal doses of tranquilizers. Thank you for the reviews, they got me working on the chapter after I had set it aside for a while. I'll be adding a status update for the next chapter on my profile page whenever I make progress/think about it. Other than that, just let me know what you thought, constructive criticism is always appreciated.**


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